Just another Zombie Story
by MonsterBerry
Summary: Fictional story following my group of fictional characters, living in the zombie infested world, just trying to survive, and find civilization.
1. Prologue

((Hello! This is my first Zombie Fanfic that I have ever posted here, and first Zombie story that I have ever put so much care and time into, so I hope you will enjoy :3))

Prologue:

I heard once, back when I was in High School, that one of the hardest jobs was child protective services, other than the obvious military infantry, and other such careers. They told me that it's "too 'high-pressure' of a job", and by they, I mean almost every Adult that I would actually decide to tell my future plans too. I've never been much of an open book, so you can imagine my facial expression when I would receive the answer that I did not want out of them. That would be, when I would usually, politely, take myself out of the conversation and walk away. It never deterred me from where I wanted to be in life, only annoyed me at how little my family believed in my abilities to become what I wanted. I wanted to be married to my boyfriend, Mitch, with children, and working as a Child Protective services caseworker, helping to protect children from abusive households.  
Now, having that been said, you can probably begin to imagine how I feel being shut in my former high school's gym, trying my hardest to protect some kids, while a growing number of undead begin to notice our presences behind these cold stone walls. It's almost kind of funny once you think about it, I'm doing what I wanted, protecting kids well, not that funny, but in times like these if you didn't laugh, you'd cry.

You're probably wondering how I got myself into this pickle. If you're not then you can just exit this story; exit my life and find something else to find your fancy, perhaps, you'll enjoy that Snooki autobiography, or the Cat in the Hat. If you do, however, find yourself wanting to know what's happened to me, then I suppose I would have to start from the beginning...


	2. Chapter 1: A Strange Day

Chapter one: It was a Strange Day.

A Wednesday to be exact; it didn't happen to start out strange either. It started like any other day. It started with me, Haley Rasbury, waking up at the crack of eleven to Jamison, Mitch's fourteen year old brother, playing guitar. I never minded waking up like this, for different reasons such as: one, I don't like to sleep past noon. I'm nineteen and that's just too easy for me to do, and two, guitar was much better than the sound of Jamie throwing up as loud as an alarm clock from his acid reflex.  
After opening my eyes and laying there for a few minutes, roll over and kissed Mitch on the cheek, checked my phone, then I proceeded to do what I do every morning which is: fall out of bed and dress in decent clothing, then saunter into the kitchen where I fill my belly with Nutella covered bagels. It wasn't the fancies of morning "rituals", but I got by.  
Next I sat with little Joshua for a few seconds and watched Sponge bob while Drew, Mitch's other brother and Mrs. Amy, their mom, was out.  
After a few minutes of pure Sponge bob and bagel filled joy I disappeared back into my bedroom where I played Skyrim next to my sleeping beauty until it was time to go to work.

I didn't want to go that day, in fact I never do, but something about that Wednesday I did not want to leave my comfy bed, boyfriend, and the world of Skyrim to deal with a bunch of old rednecks at the Haughton Brookshires grocery store.  
Maybe it was the rain, now that I think of it. Something about the human body just not wanting to move when it rained, not like rain was anything new in North Louisiana; not when every day of the year was a twenty percent chance of it.  
So of course, I didn't think anything of the ice cold January rain as I ran to my little blue car with the hood of my black zip-up jacket pulled over my head to protect my straightened, medium-length, black hair.  
I also didn't think much of it when it came down harder as I parked my car and made my way in Brookshires, where I worked closing shifts a cashier. It wasn't until one of the baggers was talking to a customer, and I overheard him say that the sky "looked weird." That I looked up and saw that half the sky from the front large windows was a deep violet-black and the other half was a very vibrant orange.  
I stood there at my register for a few moments and looked at it, finally making a joke to my bagger friend, Patrick, about Zombies coming into the store any minute, and we laughed, I was still chuckling quietly to myself when I heard a loud crash by the entrance. I jumped, and like everyone else turned my attention to the loudest noise in a public place. I looked so quick however, that I didn't think anything of it and turned my attention back to Patrick who's face had suddenly gone slack and pale.  
Before I could fully turn around again to see what had made the crash, a loud scream broke through the entire store, making me jump and sending frenzy through everyone else standing around. I gasped as I spotted it through the crowd at the front doors. There were about five, and more spilling into the store. I took a few steps back, stepping into a just-as-shocked Patrick, as I watched people beginning to grab people, and even push others away as some, tried to eat each other.  
I couldn't move, I was glued to my mat as I watched chaos slam into the world around me, people went nuts screaming and crying, knocking over shelves and each other.  
Children were crying, and I even saw a man throw a child to the side as he ran to save himself. I felt as if I couldn't breath. My eyes grazed over the entrance to the customer service box where Amy was inside behind the glass, looking as shocked as I. She fumbled with her phone trying to call, more than likely, Travis, her husband.  
I think I could have stayed there forever, just gaping at the hell that was forming in front of my eyes if it wasn't for a random lady who slammed into me from the side, sending me falling into the magazine rack and hitting my head on the cold tile floor that was beginning to look more red than white. My vision blurred as I struggled to grasp what was happening to me.  
I heard Patrick scream from a few feet away, and I looked up to see an elderly woman grasping my apron. Her eyes were wet from tears and she was pleading silently.  
I looked past her to see two small children gnawing away at her legs and stomach. My mouth flew open as I began to panic, and tried to scoot away, but I couldn't get her to let go of my apron, I just wanted her to let go. It's not as if I could have saved her. My generation and I were not ignorant to what Zombies are and can do. Once you're bitten that's it you're gone.  
"Please, please let go' I mumbled frantically as I tried to pry her hands off my Apron.  
"Please let go. LET GO" I sobbed and was suddenly covered in a spray of blood. I closed my eyes and mouth as I felt the warm spray hit my neck and cover my shirt and apron.  
I looked up to see Patrick, his eyes wide and frantic as he used his steel-toed boot to kick in the head of one of the zombie children nearest to me. My breath caught in my throat as I looked down at the woman who was still holding onto my apron as her eyes began to glaze over.  
"Patrick!" I breathed, ripping the apron from over my head and untied it from under my hoodie, scrambling to my feet.  
Patrick didn't respond, only finished the second undead child and stepped over the still old woman and pulled me to my feet by my arm and forced me into the center isle of the entire store.  
"When need to get the hell out of here, now." Patrick said, panic in his voice as he nervously ran his hands through his short hair.  
I nodded looking around me. "I-I-I-I got it, uh, AMY!" I said, my words running together clumsily as I lurched for the cigarettes where lighters were scattered all over the floor. I picked a package of three up and ran for Isle two, where all the hair products were.

"This isn't time to loot and pillage, Haley." Patrick called behind me as he shoved a teenage boy zombie into another isle.

I didn't respond, instead I grabbed the largest can of hairspray off the shelf and ripped the lighter package open, grabbing one before it fell to the floor.  
"Look." I mumbled as I pushed passed him and kneed the closest zombie in the stomach; sending it to its knees. I flicked the lighter on and opened the can of hairspray sending a wild flame straight at the head.  
The zombie howled and flipped onto its back writhing in pain as It still tried to reach at us. Patrick didn't say anything he just grabbed his own can and a bottle of hairspray and followed me down the isle, back to the front of the store where Amy was behind the glass trying to keep the zombies from getting in.  
"We have to get Amy." I said over my shoulder to Patrick as I set a Zombie aflame that was blocking my way through one of the open lanes.

I did my best to ignore the carnage that surrounded us. I knew I couldn't save everyone, so I did my best to ignore their blood all over the floor and my new Nikes. It took all I had not to look down at mangled eaten bodies of my co-workers and Brookshires regulars. I turned my head at babies on the floor screaming, and mother's ripping their young apart.

It was the hardest thing to I had to do in my life.

I did it though, maybe that makes me weak, maybe it makes me a horrible person, all I knew at the time was that if I tried to focus on everyone I loved and had any recognition of familiar feelings for in that damned Brookshires, I would have broken down and killed over right there in the middle of the front of the store that I have hated so much for the past six months.  
I ran to the left of the customer service box, where I found a male zombie trying to climb up the rack that held the rental vacuum cleaner liquid and pulled him down by the collar of his ripped t-shirt, sending him toppling backwards with the metal shelf and all the bottles of vacuum cleaner with him.  
I jumped backwards, slamming into Patrick who caught me and pushed me to the side to avoid the man's hungry grasps, and set him on fire.  
I didn't have time for that though, I pushed the she shelf back upright and climbed up the first few shelves as best as I could, trying to avoid falling over onto the gumball machines.  
"Amy! Amy, climb onto the counter!" I yelled over the edge of the wall separating us.  
Suddenly I saw her head pop up on the other side of the Store director's office.

"Haley? Haley, are you bitten?" She asked as she looked down into the space that was separating us, it was a small office, a space between the two walls where the managers would sit and do manager stuff. I shook my head as I steadied my balance on the shaky rack that I feared wouldn't hold my weight for much longer.

"Amy, try to come across this, climb over to me somehow." I urged, pulling myself to a point where I could sit on the ledge of the glass.  
My eyes met Amy's and for a second there was small bit of relief that spread through my being to see my friend okay then, we looked down.

In the office was my Store director and three other zombies in a large feeding frenzy.  
I looked back to Amy, scrambling through my mind for an idea as the Brookshires started to grow filled with smoke.  
I looked down to see Patrick, kicking Zombies away and setting them on fire and the fire was starting to catch on more than just the dead.  
My eyes grew wide, there was way too many chemicals in that store for the fire to just die out and everyone waltz out of there okay.

"Amy, figure something out!" I panicked as I waved my arms at her in a hurried gesture.

Amy shook her head and looked around, probably more for the courage to leap across the space than for something to help her.

"I'll catch you I promise." I called as a look of desperation crossed her face and tears welled in her eyes.  
Amy didn't respond for a few minutes she just kept looking around for something, anything to help her. Well, staplers and paper work wasn't going to help and that's about all she had back there.

"I-I can't Haley, I can't do it.' She said breaking down a little bit.

I wouldn't accept it though. My eyebrows furrowed in anger as I leaned in a little bit closer.  
"Then, you'll die Amy, you'll die in there. Do you want to get eaten alive? Is that how you want to go, this isn't the Amy I know. I won't accept this, just no." I yelled slamming my fist down onto the wooden support of the glass wall, which attracted the attention from our friends who was feasting upon our old boss.

"You guys need to figure something out up there!" Patrick yelled in frustration below us.  
"RIGHT NOW!" he added, kicking a woman in the face.

I looked back to Amy and reached my hand out to her, holding it above the sudden other out reached hands that were trying to catch us by now.  
Amy nodded and took a deep breath and without a countdown or a second thought leapt over the threshold grabbing my arm and sending both us up toppling over the edge and almost crashing into the buggies on the other side of my flimsy metal rack, which came crashing down on top of us.  
I groaned and rolled over onto my side, coughing, from both the smoke that was quickly thickening and having the wind knocked out of my lungs from the fall.  
I looked up and saw Amy climbing to her feet and Patrick fighting off another Zombie.

"We have to go through the back." Amy said as she pulled me to my feet and kicked a zombie in the throat at the same time.

I didn't say anything, only nodded and followed, I learned the day I met Amy that you don't argue with half Koreans who wanted to be cops when they grew up. The three of us traveled through the store, making our way to the back where the stock was all unloaded. We only stopped a few times, grabbing more hairspray, canned fruit, lighters, and Amy grabbed lighter fluid, and broke a bent broom over a zombie's head to use as a sharper weapon. As we traveled closer to the back, going as fast as we could with our Brookshires "Save the earth" cloth bags full of supplies, we noticed more of the isles catching fire and it was growing too close to the cleaning supplies Isle.

"ohmygodohmygodohmygod, Amy, Patrick." I mumbled, my words flying as fast as my lips would allow.

"I know, I know," Amy breathed heavily in front of me as she shoved a large black Zombie out of our way. Patrick looked behind me at what I was talking about and began to Usher Amy faster. At this point we weren't even stopping to shove Zombies aside we were sprinting around them, gripping our supplies like it was our lives in our little sacks as we flew through the swinging doors, leading a small horde of zombies behind us.

"Lift the thing, lift it!" I yelled as we neared the closest gate opening where a truck was supposed to back into.

"Fuck, I don't know how!" Amy yelled in frustration from my pushing.

We looked at Patrick, who just shoved his sack of supplies into my already full arms and sprinted ahead of us, pulling as hard as he could on the chain to open the lift door. He wasn't fast enough though.  
"Patrick, move your ass!" Amy yelled as she shoved racks of unstocked merchandise between us and the zombies to slow them down.

My heart beat so fast in my chest I thought I would have a heart attack right there and join my fallen co-workers before I even got to leave that damned store. I stood there, like some sort of freaking idiot, staring into the mangled faces of the people I had grown close to and familiar with in the past seven months; people who used to smile and wave when I walked into the store, happy or mad, rain or shine. Now all I saw were snarled growling faces that reached out to me viciously and hungry. I saw faces that were covered in blood, that I couldn't be sure were theirs.

"Haley, what are you doing, let's go!" I heard Amy and Patrick yelling at me from the entrance way.  
I turned on my heels and ran with them towards the parking lot, dodging goodwill zombies as we reached the center, which was a complete mess.  
I groaned as I spotted my little blue civic, crushed under a flipped jacked up truck.

"Nooo, ole' blue." I whined as I walked slower to my car.

"Well we weren't taking your piece of shit anyways." I heard Amy retort and I turned around to see her smirking as she started walking to her little black car.

"That's because we're taking a jeep." Patrick said proudly as he guided us to his untouched black Jeep that wasn't even scratched.

"Well, let's get going, we have visitors." I gasped as I watched a group of zombies emerging from around the Sonic Area.

"Oh my god, Callie!" I gasped as I leapt into the passenger seat.

"Who, What?" Patrick asked as he climbed into the drivers.

"To the Library, ask questions later, right over there go go go!" I urged smacking the dashboard frantically as I looked to Patrick with pleading eyes.

"Don't make me regret saving this chick, whoever she is!" He mumbled in return as he started the jeep and quickly sped around the flaming debris in the parking lot from the crashing chaotic carnage that had only started what seemed to be a few seconds ago.  
Funny, how an eternity can pass within a few seconds and it can still feel like only a few seconds at the same time.


	3. Chapter 2: Too Callie

Chapter 2: Too Callie.

We flew across the neighboring parking lot, belonging to the Freds and Goodwill, in Patrick's Jeep, dodging Zombies and crashed cars that littered highway 80.

"Give me that broom handle!" I demanded and snatched it from Amy's grasp as I jumped from the Jeep before Patrick could even come to a complete stop in front of the east 80 Library.  
"Coming in with me or staying I don't care but I'm going in to get Callie, I should only take a few seconds." I said, my voice a little shaky from fear that Callie would be dead in there, or worse.  
I walked into the library, immediately feeling wrong. It was eerily quiet and the power had gone out. There wasn't a soul I could see in the public reading place.  
"Callie...Callista...Cal?" I spoke, my voice feeling too loud in the silent store.  
I gripped the broken metal broom handle tighter, turning my knuckles white as I approached the checkout counter and looked over it, trying to peer into the back where the offices were.  
Then there was a loud crash and I heard a female groan painfully from the back.  
My heart pounded in my ears as I climbed on top of the counter and looked on the floor, seeing no one, just a bloody trail that looked as if someone had been dragged to the back.  
I felt sick, I felt faint, I felt dizzy as I opened my mouth to speak again, my fingers going numb from how tight I gripped the broken handle.

"C-Callie?" I whimpered, my voice cracking as I placed my feet on the other side of the counter and stood in the door way to the back.

Another loud crashing sound and I felt as if I could have pissed myself right then If I had anything in me at the moment to piss.  
I turned the corner, smacking the first thing I saw as hard as I could, letting out a frustrated yelp as I did and in returned was tackled into the wall behind me and punched in the stomach. Tears welled in my eyes as I let a chokeing noise escape my lungs and I crumbled to the floor, closing my eyes expecting the next blow from whatever it was that shoved me with such great force.  
Why the hell was I so weak in this? This wasn't supposed to be my character in the big Zombie takedown.

"Holy Shit, Haley?" I heard an exasperated voice above me and something soft touched my chin, lifting it up into light.

I opened my eyes, blinking the uninvited tears away to see a mortified Callie hovering over me.  
"Oh dear god, I'm so sorry, I freaked out! I thought you were another one of those, fucking zombies!" she spat the name with disgust as she lifted my shirt just a little to see where she hit me.  
There was a pretty red spot where her fist made contact with what I swore was my kidney.  
She crinkled her nose into a "oops" face and helped me to my feet.

"Why didn't you just answer me when I called your name like three times, you asshole?" I croaked, hunched over as I grabbed for my broken broom stick.

Outside Patrick and Amy honked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't seem to hear you over me having to smash in my co-worker's head with an encyclopedia." Callie hissed, cocking her head to the side as she blinked at me.  
My eyes widened, I hadn't noticed it before but, Callie was covered in a lot of blood.  
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I- I didn't- are you okay? you weren't bitten?!" I began to panic again.

"Nah man, I'm good. don't worry about it, I haven't been bitten, everything's a little crazy, so just calm down." She said, placing her hand on my shoulder.

I nodded, "Well let's get the hell out of here." I walked around the counter, and led the way out of the front doors.  
We ran outside, leaped into the Jeep and turned back onto the road, just missing a small Dollar General horde that emerged into the parking lot.

"Where do we go now?" Patrick asked looking in the rear view mirror at Amy and Callie, then to me.

Multiple people and things crossed my mind in the three seconds before hearing the question and opening my mouth to blurt some direction for Patrick.

"McKenzie! No, uh, Jacob! John Michael…Mom.." tears began to swell again and I hid my face, too ashamed and embarrassed to cry in front of my friends.  
No one said anything. They were all feeling the same. How could we possibly save everyone we love? We were all only 19-20 years old.  
"McKenzie…" I made my decision.  
"We have to go get McKenzie, its only 1:00 everyone is still at school. That means Samantha." I looked to Amy, as I mentioned her sister's name. "and Christa.", my eyes shifted to Callie as I mentioned hers too.

"No way you guys! It's a public high school, it's going to be a feeding frenzy there! That's a suicide mission! I wouldnt be surprised if the Freshmen started this whole thing!" Patrick protested from the driver's seat.

"We can't just leave our siblings there though, what it they're okay and still alive and scared to shit in some fucking closet?!" Amy shot back, angry.

"Then we'll be getting all of us killed." Patrick argued.

"look, I can't live not knowing if my sister, my closest sister, is alive or not and I'll be damned if I leave her to go out on some epic safety adventure and she's still alive and okay in a closet and dies because I didn't do what I swore to do when we were children, what every big sister or brother does the first time you beat up another kid for picking on them…Protect her."

"Well there is no argument in that, we're going to kick some zombie arse." Callie mumbled behind me, poking her head over my shoulder, looking at Patrick.

"Well we can't go in wielding hairspray and a broken broom handle." Patrick mumbled.

"We'll go to my house then." I stated and pointed in the direction of it, for Patrick to head to.  
We sat in Silence as Patrick aimed his car toward Doyline, the little town outside of Haughton. Down highway 80 the streets were littered with Chaos, there were fires burning and cars piled up on the sides f the road while the dead and living ran and roamed freely all over the place. It was a complete nightmare, and we were only getting started.


	4. Chapter 3: My Parent's Home

We reached Doyline with little problems, only a few zombies littered the actual road, and the debris was nothing we couldn't maneuver around. The only problem we had was time, the drive from Brookshires to Doyline was normally, at most, 20 minute drive, but with all the obstacles it turned into a forty-five to an hour drive and by the end of it we were all anxious.  
Patrick parked the jeep around the back of my parent's nice double-wide trailer home and stepped out, checking the nearby surroundings for any undead.  
I scanned the area, it was a beautiful place, large piece of land with gorgeous woods past the two ponds. It was a far drive from town though, which was one of the reasons I decided to move in with my boyfriends family.

My boyfriend! I reached into my pocket and fumbled for my phone, pulling it out and unlocking the screen to find 4 missed calls from Mitch.  
My heart raced and I touched his contact, calling him back.  
"Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up." I breathed, my stomach knotting and churning, threatening to spew my deli food from earlier that day.

"you've reached Anthony, you may know me as Mitch..." His voice mail answered.

My heart sank, "No, why didn't he pick up!" I cursed and tried to keep from panicking as Amy and Callie watched me.

"Travis hasn't answered either..." Amy spoke, lifting her cellphone heavyhearted and glanced at it.

"Try him again, knowing Mitch he's just busy taking care of everyone else." Callie said, being the optimistic one as always.

I nodded and clicked his contact again, redialing his number. It rang until it reached the voice mail again. I bit my lip and turned to Callie, shaking my head.

"Well, like I said, keep your phone on vibrate and give it some time, we have other things to do anyways." Callie gave a small reassuring smile and headed for the back glass-sliding doors to my parents' house.  
She stopped before walking up the porch, and looked at the back doors, which forced me to stop and look from behind her.  
"What's ther-" I began and cut myself off as I noticed the door was shattered and the table inside the home was flipped over.

"Do you think anyone was home..?" I heard Patrick ask from the back of the line of us, waiting to go inside.

I thought for a moment and shrugged. "What's today..." I mumbled, pulling my phone out and clicking the button on my phone that lit up the locked screen.  
"Wednesday..." I mumbled.  
"MY MOM! My mom is off on Wednesdays!" my voice came out higher and airy as I began to panic again.  
I wanted so bad to run inside and tear the house apart and find my mother hidden and fine, but there was a part of me that was terrified that I may not find what I wanted.

Callie took a deep breath and took a step through the shattered glass, into the dining area of the kitchen.  
She stepped to the side and allowed me to walk in, followed by the other two.  
every step across the kitchen and dining area was painful. every crunch of the glass under my black sneakers made my heart pound louder in my head and I realized I was holding my breath. I let it out as my feet touched the carpet of the living room and I could see into the darkness that was my parent's room.  
I edged to the doorway and peeked in. Little light shone through the curtains above my mother and step-father's king size bed. I could see the crates that usually housed my mother's two dogs, Feefee and Jasper, were empty and unmarked by anything out of the ordinary.  
I felt a little better at that.

"Mom..." I whispered, the sound of my own voice giving me the creeps in such a quiet house.  
I walked further into the room, followed by Callie.  
I looked to the left where the bathroom door was opened and light poured in.  
"Mom...?" I called a little louder as I moved closer to the doorway.  
Silence, there was no movement, nothing. I didn't know how to feel about that.  
I looked in the bathroom, it was empty and I sighed.  
It wasn't a sigh of relief, or was it a sigh of frustration. I just...sighed.  
I sighed because there was nothing, because I didn't know what to feel, because I wanted my mom here, but I was glad she wasn't here dead.

"There's nothing in the other rooms either." Patrick walked into the room with Amy.  
I nodded and flipped on the closet light, looking into the crammed small closet that was shared between my mom and step-dad.  
to my surprise a lot of clothes seemed to be missing.  
I smiled, and looked to my friends.  
"My mom's not here... she got the hell out of here..." I said happy that not only her car wasn't here, but her body wasn't either.

My friend's all smiled and nodded in agreed satisfactory that we didn't have to put to rest my mother today.  
Without another word I turned back to the closet and dug around the back, beneath all the scrap booking bags and Christmas wrapping paper.  
"Ah-hah." I muttered as I pulled back with a handgun.

I checked the magazine for ammunition and frowned when I found it empty.  
Of coarse my mother would keep a gun in the closet for protection, but not have it loaded.

"Patrick look in the kitchen above the microwave for bullets, any kind and then check next to the backdoor for a hunting rifle."  
My friend nodded and turned to the kitchen. I looked in the closet some more and within a few minutes I managed to find a magazine full of 9 mm. bullets for the handgun.

"Found rifle bullets, handgun bullets, a crowbar...in the kitchen... an aluminum bat, and shotgun shells, but no shot gun." Patrick returned carrying the ammunition.

"That'll do pig...that'll do." I nodded and blew out my cheeks, making the sound a balloon does when you let the air out and stretch the opening at the same time, and handed the Crowbar to Amy and the Bat to Callie.

After gathering the little ammo and food we could safely carry, we migrated to the living room to plan our next move.  
"After we rescue our siblings...If we're able too, that is." my eyes lowered to my muddy shoes.  
Of coarse I wanted everyone to be okay, and for this whole horrifying ordeal to have been just some dream that I would wake up from any minute, heck, there's still a piece of me that wants that, but I know it's not going to happen, especially after the morning I'd already had.  
I looked up at the three pairs of eyes on me. No one said anything, or tried to rush me. My friends just nodded, supporting me.

"We will have to find a safe place to stay, if only temporary. I'd suggest out here, but it's no where near safe with the smashed sliding glass doors." I gestured to where we entered the home.  
No one said anything so I stood and looked out the front windows, peering sneakily between the blinds to scope out what the action outside could be.  
The front yard itself was empty of zombies, but I could see a few shambling up the street and roaming the yard across from ours.  
I sighed, thinking of what to do when my eyes settled on my Step-dad's silver Titan V8 truck. I looked from the zombies in the road to the truck and then back again, judging the time it would take us to get to the truck versus the time it's take the zombies to be on us.

"Can someone look above the stove and get me the set of keys up there?" I asked as I kept looking out the window.  
I heard one of them stand and shuffle to the kitchen.  
I wasn't worried about my step-dad missing his truck or anything like that. He worked for an oil company called Baker Hughes and his specific job required him to fly back and forth from Alaska every three weeks, and this was an Alaska period.

"Catch." I heard Patrick call and I turned in time to see the Keys hit the couch next to me.  
"Thanks." I picked the Keys up and stood, grabbing my bag of Ammo and food.

"Okay, now to the High school... Pat and Amy, you guys take your jeep, Callie and I will take my step dad's truck." I said, making sure my mother's handgun had the safety off.

"Okee Dokey, We'll just follow you then." Amy said and started to walk to the back door with Patrick following her.

I turned to Callie and nodded with a small smile.  
"Okay, have that bat ready chica, there are a few zombies in the street and no doubt they will come after our movement so dart to the truck!" I said and gripped the Knob of the front door.

Callie took a nervous breath and nodded, gripping her bad tightly and cracked her neck.  
"Okay... Now!" I flung the door open and flew outside, jumping over the steps off the porch and to the truck. Just like I guessed too, the zombies in the street noticed our movement and started to walk and shamble briskly towards us.  
I held my breath and fumbled with the keys as the first two out of four infected reached the tailgate of the truck and outreached their hands toward us.

I stabbed the right key into the hole and kicked the closest zombie to me away, making it fall onto it's back, I took that extra time to fling the car door open and hop inside, slamming it behind me and leap across the divider to the passenger side, where Callie was gritting her teeth and cursing at me too hurry.  
I clicked the unlock as Callie bashed an elderly woman zombie in the forehead and opened the door.  
I sat back down in the driver seat, ignoring the bloody hands on my window and started the truck as Callie shuffled into her seat and slammed the door.  
outside the truck I saw Amy and Patrick swing around the house and look at us worriedly.

I quickly reversed the truck, shaking the zombies from our windows and sped to the road, dodging a zombie female jogger with Amy and Patrick right behind us.

"Holy shit..." I breathed and looked at Callie, then in the rear view mirror at Pat and Amy one last time before returning my attention to the road.  
"Are you okay?!" I asked Callie, feeling bad for not being faster with getting her in the truck.

She nodded and relaxed a little against the seat. "Yea, yea, no bites. just a bit shaken up, gotta say it though, baseball bat is much easier to use than an encyclopedia." She gave a small awkward laugh.

I smiled, and gave a humored exhale through my nose and focused on the road.  
Next stop was Haughton High School. I had an uneasy feeling about the whole thing, I mean we all knew that this was probably a bad idea, but I had to find Mckenzie, no matter what.


	5. Chapter 4: Haughton High School

The path to the high school was harder to work through then we'd thought, even after the frustrating one to Doyline. Our usual fifteen minute drive turned into a tedious thirty minute obstacle course. The streets were lined with Car accidents and as we came to turn onto the road next to the school it got even worse. The air was thick with black smoke and the putrid stench of burning death. I only puked once though, and that was better than what I could say for Callie. I thought she would stay that sickly pale color if we didn't get out of the crash site quickly. The sad part was that the majority of the wreckage was high school bodies. It seemed that most of the students tried to flee at the same time when the school was slammed into chaos, creating a pile up, and traffic lock that resulted in more death from there fires that spread from exploding cars.

I peeled my eyes for McKenzie's car, or any car that McKenzie could have been in. I looked for her boyfriend, Elliott's, truck, and Christa, Callie's little sister's vehicle; much to my relief and dismay I saw neither, or anything that looked like it belonged to her, that didn't bring much peace however, for a lot of the bodies were either eaten or burned to the point of no recognition.

"Man this fucking sucks." I heard Callie cut through the silence as she slammed her back against the seat and covered her eyes with her hands.

I nodded and sped up a little through the end of the wreckage and aimed my car towards the student parking lot. We sat back up when we pulled into the lot, there were about twenty cars, give or take a few. We scanned the lot, looking for the vehicles that would give us a clue to where our sibling may be. Unable to see McKenzie's or her boyfriend's vehicle I slumped in my seat, a frustrated sigh escaped my chapped lips and I slowed my car, giving up. Callie was about to give up with me when she suddenly jumped and pointed to a sandwiched little truck between two Tahoes.

"There! There! Stop!" She said, and opened the door before I could correctly park my own vehicle and leaped out, and ran across twenty feet to the small wreck. She stopped within a few feet of the smashed cars and placed her hands on her head. "Christa..Christa…?" She whimpered and tried to find something within the smoking crash that showed her that Christa was still alive.

"Be careful! Don't get too close!" I stood from the driver's seat of the silver truck and grabbed the handgun, readied the weapon for anything that could surprise us. I strode up beside my friend and looked around the doors. "The driver's from the other two could be close." I murmured and made a circle around the vehicles. The surroundings were clear, in fact the whole parking lot was surprisingly clear of the undead.

Patrick and Amy pulled up and parked the jeep behind my truck. Amy was the first to get out of the jeep and walked over to us. "Weird how empty this place is." She spoke as she turned to look towards the school.

"I guess most of the zombies are in the wreckage back there… looks like everyone tried to bail around the same time." Patrick said as he walked over, and stretched with the rifle above his head.

The rest of us nodded and turned to face the school buildings. I lead the group as we all started to make our way into the school grounds.

"I think our smartest place to look first is definitely the-" I started and began to raise my blunt weapon towards a building at the end of the sidewalk we were on.

"The band room." The rest of the group finished for me.

They were right, as much as our stomachs all turned at the idea of what could be behind the band room doors we knew we had to look there first. Christa, McKenzie, and Elliott were all in band, just as Amy, Patrick, and I were the year before. The band room would be the safest place to them.

"Alright, yea...the band room." I muttered and continued to lead the way.

A few seconds later, we were standing in front of the door to the band room. We exchanged glances around each other as we pondered whether or not to just open the damn door.

"What if it's full of them… marching band zombies…?" Callie made a face of utter displeasure and took a step back from the door.

"What the hell's the difference between a marching band zombie and a regular one?" Amy threw her hands up and glared at Callie.

"More sweat and the wonderful smell of old saliva to go with their undead sten-"

"You guys, now is not the time." I interrupted Callie, and our attention all returned to the door handle.

"Let's just try to open it a crack and if anything or anyone comes rushing out, we'll be ready, just stand to the side, one of you and open it to where something can't rush you." Patrick suggested.

We all turned to look at Patrick, whom in return, just kept staring at the door, probably thinking of how smart he felt right then.

"Okay, open the door Patrick…we'll be ready." I gave a smile and gestured for him to go for it.

Patrick frowned and shook his head. "No way, I can't!"

"And why can't you?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Because I'm the only penis here, if we have to repopulate the earth I will be needed, obviously, gosh Haley." Patrick turned his nose up at me, satisfied with his answer.

I rolled my eyes as Callie and Amy snickered and shook their heads. I took a deep breath and approached the door. My eyes were locked on the handle and I reached my hand out to grasp it.

"Just do it already." Patrick was getting impatient. He blinked a few times and gave me an annoyed look.

I sighed and grabbed the handle, and gave it a twist and tug, but it didn't budge. "It's fucking locked!" I slapped my hands to my sides and turned to my friends.

They all took a large collective sigh and our attention turned to the doors that lead into the choir room, which through an old hallway, connected to the new band room.

"Now, we try option numero dos." Callie mumbled as her and the rest of us wandered over to the double doors.

This time, instead of taking so long to work up the nerve to turn a knob I took the lead and gripped the handle, and pushed it testing the lock. Too my surprise, relief and worry, it was unlocked. I took a second, and held the door in place as I looked behind me to the others.

"Okay, I'm going to swing this open and jump out of the way, you guys be r-" I started but was suddenly slammed backwards by the door I was holding and into the concrete. I heard Callie and Amy yell and Patrick fire his rifle. All around me there was movement, and I quickly scrambled to my feet with the unwanted help of two bloody hands that pulled me up by my black zip-up hoodie. I gritted my teeth and threw my elbow behind me. I hit some undead female student in the chin, which sent the zombie flying backwards into a metal support pole. I whipped my mother's hand gun around and fired a round into the female's skull. To my left Callie wrestled with a skinny male, her aluminum bat was thrown to the side and Patrick and Amy were preoccupied with zombies that were trying to come out of the building next to the band room.

"Callie! Hold on!" I yelled, more for my own comfort than hers. I knew telling her to do something that she was already doing would do nothing for her at the moment but make her frustrated, but something about telling someone you plan on saving, to hold on makes you feel like getting to them is more possible than you feel. I ran over to her and kicked the zombie in the hip, sending him rolling to his side. Callie scooted back until she touched the band room wall. I grabbed the bat and finished the zombie off, not wanting to use anymore bullets for now. When I was done gathering what we dropped around the band room I threw myself and a stumbling Callie into the band room with her bat back in her hands I turned back to Amy and Patrick who were finishing off two zombies from the neighboring building. "Hurry up before more show up!" I called and they quickly joined us in the middle of the empty room.

"Okay, this room is clear now, but there is no telling what is in the hallway or new band room" Amy sighed, pointing to the closed door that lead to the rest of the joined buildings.

"Like McKenzie…" I mumbled and gripped the hand gun.

"Christa.." Callie whispered, her face growing dark as her eyes lifted to meet mine, but I couldn't look her there. I couldn't look her in the eyes and let her see all the fear behind mine, the fear I knew she could plainly see all over my face.

"Let's keep looking then." I stretched and readied my weapon as I moved towards the back door. The hallway was dark, except for the red light that shone from the fire escape signs at the end of each side of the hallway. I cracked the door open and slid into the hallway, pointing my gun around like I saw cops do on TV. I turned, facing the direction to the new band room and froze. As I think back to that moment I like to tell myself that I don't know why I froze. That I just did, but I know it's not true. Not everyone can just kill anyone instantly at the drop of a hat, especially if it's someone known, someone who played a large part in someone's life and as I stared into this someone's glazed over eyes I hesitated. I made a mistake that almost cost my life.

At the end of the hallway stood my high school band director, Mr. Williams. His lips parted in a low guttural growl as he stared into me with hungry eyes, well, eye. His other eye dangled by a stem against his torn cheek. His chest was ripped open; his entrails were pulled up and out of the chasm in his torso and he took a menacing step towards me.

To my right the other's poked their head in, but they were a second too late.

Mr. Williams launched at me, and sprinted down the hallway, his hands outstretched towards me. I lifted the gun and shot, a bullet ripping through the side of his neck, I fired again, this one tore through his shoulder, barely knocking him off course, and before I could fire another round his body slammed into mine, sending us flying onto the cold, dirty floor. I coughed and let out a desperate cry as I fought to keep the jaws of my old band director from closing around my neck. I heard my friends shuffling around and screaming. I saw Amy jerk the rifle from Patrick and yell something about not shooting me. I screamed as I felt hot air and liquid leak onto my flesh from the open gnashing teeth of Mr. Williams. I was running out of time, I couldn't hold him forever. Just as I felt my arms were going to give out Mr. Williams' head popped back as something blunt slammed against his upper back. He roared furiously and I yelled a few obscenities as I struggled to keep his blood and teeth away from my face. Another blow to the back of his head and Mr. Williams' body slumped against mine. I groaned, my voice was hoarse, and tears stung my eyes as I silently begged for someone to lift the body of the man that once taught my peers and I how to breathe correctly, play music together and enjoy my band family to the fullest, away from me. I laid on the cold floor sobbing for what felt like hours as my friends all looked down at me solemn, giving me my space, until the bathroom door to the right of my head slowly cracked open and I heard a familiar voice call my name.

Hands touched my face and I jerked, grabbing the thin wrists that belonged to an eighteen year old girl. Curly, frizzy hair brushed my cheek and neck as I was pressed back down onto the tile by the weight that could only belong to McKenzie.

"Haley! I thought you were dead! How did you get here?" McKenzie cried, she rubbed her face against mine, smearing her make-up and hot tears all over my cheek and forehead.

Two other bodies shuffled from the bathroom and I heard Callie squeal in happiness as her and Christa hugged and fell to the side of us. The other one was Elliott. He kneeled beside McKenzie and I and gave me a firm hug.

"Hey." He said with a small nod.

I laughed and hugged him back, and used his shoulder to lift myself onto my feet. We wiped our tears and took a few minutes to make sure everyone was okay and uninfected. When we were done with our greetings we searched the area of the joined buildings that we already cleared for weapons and successfully equipped McKenzie, Elliott and Christa with make-shift sharp weapons made from symbol stands and rusty blades in the supply closets.

"Our next move is to get back to our vehicles. We need to find a more permanent place then this." Amy started and peered through a crack in the boarding on the exit closest to the parking lot.

"Yea, I think we're all ready to get the hell out of here whenever you are." Elliott spoke from around a scared, shaking McKenzie.

"On the count of three then, we open the doors and run like hell to our cars." I said and cocked the handgun.

Amy nodded; she and Patrick stood by the door and with a nod from everyone in the group they swung the doors open and we charged outside. I stayed close to McKenzie. I made sure nothing touched her' we were handling all the zombies that rushed us rather well until I heard Amy cry out. I looked over to see her hesitate in front of her sister, Samantha, her undead sister. My mouth dropped and my stomach sank as I saw Amy's shoulder's slump and without another hesitation she stabbed her weapon through Samantha's eye,ad ended her suffering.

"Come on! There's more coming, we can't take them all!" Patrick yelled ahead of us, and he shot three zombies that gathered in front of him.

We ran together, trying more to dodge the infected, rather than fight all of them and it seemed like all the zombies in Haughton were gathering around at the same time.

"We're not going to make it to the vehicles! Too the boys gym! Go!" I yelled and pressed McKenzie and Elliott ahead of me.

We flew through the canopied sidewalk, dodging the hungry grasps of teenage zombies. They were coming from everywhere, I thought we'd never make it, but God must have been looking out for us that day, or at least just that moment because the first door we flung ourselves against was the only unlocked one in the row of six doors. We quickly filed in and locked the door behind us. Everyone was fine, physically, that is… Amy though, Amy wasn't doing so well….


	6. Chapter 5: PE wasn't my best class

Chapter 5: P.E. wasn't my best class.

"I guess the gym classes were on the track today." Patrick mumbled and glided his hand across the wall until he found the light switch. With the flip of his fingers the gym was illuminated. He sighed and took a seat on the bleachers.

"Lucky us." I muttered and put my hands of my hips. My eyes grazed over Amy who was sitting quietly to the side. She stared off into space, probably thinking of her sister. I wanted to go talk to her, but I knew she should probably have her space first. "Well, we're going to have to sleep here tonight so I better go sweep this place and look for cloth we can sleep on." I said and looked to Callie who stood up, ready to go with me.

McKenzie stood up too and started to follow us, but stopped when she caught my sharp look. "No, McKenzie, you stay here, just in case something pops out. Keep an eye on Amy also, will ya?" I talked low so Amy wouldn't hear me.

McKenzie nodded and went to sit back down next to Elliott who instinctively wrapped his arms around her. She gave me a small nod, and reassured me that everything would be okay. With that, I turned to the back of the gym and Callie and I made our way to the doors that lead to the lockers, showers and offices.

We walked through the doors, weapons out and ready. It was dark and quiet; that meant the room was empty but, we stayed on guard just in case we were wrong. It didn't take us long to find a bunch of gym clothes, jackets and uniforms stuffed in unlocked lockers. I even found a few unopened water bottles; not that we needed them, we had working water fountains, but I decided we'd need them in the future.

"Looks like we found everything we'll need for tonight better go back and distribute the- "Callie started as she turned to head through the doors, but was cut off by the sound of Patrick yelling.

"WHAT THE FUCK AMY?" We heard him yell again.

Within seconds we were through the doors and running up to the sight of Amy pointing the rifle at McKenzie who was sprawled across the bleachers and holding her cheek. Next to her was a furious Elliott who was yelling everything under the sun at Amy.

"Amy what are you doing put that down!" I yelled and pointed the handgun at her.

"Put it down, man you don't want this to get ugly." Callie hissed from behind me and took a position to stand in front of Christa.

Amy didn't move, she just kept staring at McKenzie, the most hateful expression on her face I'd ever seen.

"Don't you fucking think about it, Amy." I warned and took a step closer to her.

"You mean, like you didn't think before you blew Samantha's brains out?" Amy snarled as tears slid from her cheeks, making a home in her dirty shirt collar.

My eyes widened and my shoulders fell as my eyes glided over to McKenzie who said nothing; only sat and held her bruised cheek where Amy had smacked her onto the bleachers. "Is that what this is about? Your sister wasn't your sister anymore, Amy. There was nothing we could have done- it-it's not like we co-"

"STOP IT JUST SHUT UP!" Amy yelled and covered an ear with the hand that was holding the gun steady. She shook her head and swung the gun around onto me. McKenzie gasped and Christa hid her head behind Callie's tense shoulders. "It's not fair!" Amy growled.

Callie scooted a little closer to me and gripped her bat harder, as if she could just hit the bullets away from me if Amy fired. No one said anything, we all stood staring at each other and the tension was so thick you could have cut it with a stapler.

"Amy… I am so sorry, I didn't want to have to, I couldn't just let you- I just acted, I'm sorry." I felt horrible for her. I couldn't really blame her for acting out. I don't know what I would have done had that been McKenzie instead of Sam, I'm sure I would have acted nearly the same.

"Yea well, me too." Amy whispered as she lowered her gun a little. I was ready to let out the breath I was holding and for all of us to just sit down and chill out, but I wouldn't get that, not then and , not with Amy. My stomach dropped as Amy caught my gaze in her stare and held it for a moment, only a small moment before she whipped the barrel around and placed it under her chin, and pulled the trigger.

Everything went white for me. All I heard was my own scream ringing through my ears as I watched, almost in slow motion as Amy's head blew apart sending her all over the gym and Patrick who was standing behind her. I screamed until my lungs gave out and all I could do was cough and dry heave over the crumpled body of what used to be a good friend.

I wasn't the only one reacting badly to the trauma as my own voice died I could hear Callie yelling a string of cruse words while Christa and McKenzie bawled loudly. I wasn't allowed much time with what was left of my friend before I felt Callie pull me away slowly by my arms as Elliott and Patrick began to cover the body in volleyball nets.

Callie drug me all the way back to the locker rooms before we stopped. "It's my fault! It's my fault" I cried and took shallow hyperventilating breaths, not bothering to wipe the tears that streamed down my cheeks.

"Sh-sh" Callie cooed and pressed me tight against her. "No buddy, it's not your fault. There's nothing you, I or anyone could've done, you were right."

"but I ki-" I began, but Callie cut me off.

"You did the right thing, Amy was just confused."

"Then why couldn't we save her?" I cried harder, soaking Callie's shirt in tears and snot.

"She was either going to hurt, McKenzie, you or herself. She wasn't thinking straight. Be thankful she didn't choose one of the first two." She sighed sadly and gave me a tight squeeze around my shoulders.

When I was calm enough, we returned to the rest of the group to find a nearly spotless floor. Elliott and Patrick disposed of Amy's body in one of the teacher bathrooms and cleaned up the rest while I was gone.

Night came soon after that and everyone settled across the bleachers, to gain a poor excuse for sleep; everyone except me. I sat alone to the side and ate a Milky Way from the concessions and thought about the day so far. I sat there for what I thought was the whole night, until the light began to pour into the gym from the small windows in the gym doors and I felt gentle hands on me shaking me awake.

"Haley, wake up I heard McKenzie speak next to my ear. I stirred and opened my eyes to see everyone rustling around and getting ready for the day.

"It's daylight and we can't afford to lose any of it is we're going to find Emily." McKenzie's eyes were so full of hope and eagerness to find our little sister. My stomach knotted and I nodded and gave her a small smile.

"Yea let's get ready." I replied sleepily and sat up. I looked around at everyone who had now made a circle with me, all waiting for whatever I had to say.

"While we're out we should look for a more comfortable place to stay, preferably with a bed." Patrick spoke first with a big stretch and settled back down and attempted to clean the hunting rifle.

"Alright yea, a new living place and Emily..." I my voice went low as I was forced to picture all the kinds of hell my eight year old little sister could have been going through.

Callie and Christa stared at the floor and Elliott held McKenzie closer to him. Patrick stopped cleaning the rifle and looked at me, confused. "Who is Emily?" He asked.

"Haley and Kenzie's little sister." Elliott answered with a shaky sigh.

I reached over and gave McKenzie's boyfriend a pat on the back. "We'll find her." I said, trying to reassure everyone that everything would be okay, especially myself. The truth was I wasn't sure if I wanted to find her. Well, not in this hell, not after everything I've already found. I couldn't take it if Emily was to be one of those _monsters_.

"Well, this whole thing started during school we could look at Platt elementary first?" Christa suggested and everyone in the group looked at me. I guess that made me the leader. I'll never know why though, why me? I'd proven to not be very emotionally stable this far, but what the hell; my friends trusted me and so It was my responsibility, like it or not, to take care of them.

"So Platt elementary it is, let's get ready to bust out the side doors and run for our vehicles. McKenzie and Elliott with me, Callie and Christa, you two with Patrick, okay?" I stood up and grabbed my backpack of supplies and the gym clothes I slept on.

As soon as we were all ready with our weapons by the door we sung the doors open and ran for the truck and Jeep as fast as we could. Only a few zombies tried to swarm us, it was nothing we couldn't handle and within a few minutes we were in the vehicles and on the road towards the elementary school.

"Do you think Mom could have gotten Emily somewhere safe?" McKenzie asked from the backseat once we were passed all the wrecked, burning cars.

I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "Perhaps but, wouldn't she have called us to find us also?" I chewed on the side of my lip and gave McKenzie a sidelong look. "I pray that they're both okay, but I don't want us getting our hopes up either." I mumbled and slowed down as we neared elementary school.

"Hey, look at that!" Elliott called from the backseat. I turned my head to see where he was pointing. It was across the street from the school at the Family Dollar. There were a bunch of cars leaving in a hurry except for one car that looked like it had parked with the rest of the others.

I watched the group of vehicles speed away from the small store and down the road. Once they were out of sight I turned my attention back to the nearly empty parking lot. One care in particular caught my eye. "Hm, that car looks exactly like…" my eyes narrowed and I leaned over in my seat to get a better look at the maroon colored sports car. "Looks like… Jordan's car!" I yelled and quickly swung the truck to the right and drove over the grassy median to the Family Dollar parking lot.

"What are you doing?" McKenzie yelled as I put the truck in park at leapt out.

"Stay here, I need to see something." I called over my shoulder as I grabbed my handgun from the passenger side of the truck and checked the amount of ammo in the magazine before I slammed the door close and ignored my sister's protests against my urges.

Patrick drove up beside me and honked his horn. "What are you doing?" he asked and parked the Jeep.

We made Christa wait in the truck with Elliott and McKenzie while Patrick, Callie and I creeped up to the broken doors. There were dead zombies scattered across the store and two dying bitten people against the wall. In the back of the store we heard a lot of pounding and yelling from zombies trying to break into something.

We entered, almost making the nearest bitten man shit himself. "Hey, back off! I ain't got a thing you want buddy." He coughed, blood glistening on his teeth and he leaned to the side.

"Don't worry I didn't come here to kill you and steal from you, what happened here?" Patrick asked

The man was sweating and panting heavily. "Them fuckers left us." He spat.

I looked over at the other guy who was sitting quietly to the side. I recognized him immediately as George, Jordan's friend who worked with him at Subway, before Jordan became a night stocker at Brookshires. I walked over to him and kneeled down. He didn't look good at all. His skin was pale and clammy and his breath was quick and being drowned out by all the blood coming from his neck, which he weakly held with his hand. I gulped and gently touched his shoulder, causing him to jump and gasp.

"George, it's me, Haley. You remember me, right? I'm Jordan's friend. Is he here?" I asked trying to stay calm as my eyes kept going back to all the blood around his neck.

George's eyes rolled a bit but he managed a nod. He lifted his trembling free hand and half-heartedly pointed to the back of the store where the pounding was coming from.

"Oh my gosh, Jordan! George thank you, I- I don't know what to say. I don't know how to save you man. I-" I felt my face grow hot as tears threatened to leave my eyes.

George only gave a small shake and placed his weak fingers on my handgun. I looked down at the gun in my hands and his fading life. "I-uh, I want to be able to help you like this.. I understand you don't want to beco-"

"pl- p-pl-" George's lips parted weakly as he tried to spit out the word please.

I looked away for a second as my vision blurred and I sniffled. I couldn't leave him like this. It wouldn't be right. I'd want the same thing if I was in his position. I looked back at him and wiped my hot cheeks. I put the gun to his head and waited for George to close his eyes, and I pulled the trigger.

Next to me a few feet away Patrick did the same thing with the other guy, and Callie stood behind us, watching and keeping an eye on the back of the store.

"Look alive, guys, the pounding stopped." Callie warned and gripped her bat tighter as she began to lead us towards the back of the store.

We turned a corner and met three zombies whom were standing in front of a supply closet. Thankfully, none of them were Jordan. Within a few seconds the zombies were taken care of.

"Jordan?" I took a few steps towards the supply closet.

"Haley, maybe he's-. " Callie began, reaching her hand out towards me.

My face grew hot; I didn't want to hear what Callie had to say. I knew that Jordan could have been bitten, or dead in that closet, or not in the closet at all. I was so worked up I was ready to snap. "Callie, not now; I already know okay? So just lea-."

"Haley?"

I jumped and turned back to the closet to see a dirty and shaken Jordan peeking from behind the cracked door.

"Jordan." I breathed and dropped my blunt weapon and handgun to my side. I opened the door the rest of the way as Jordan stumbled out onto me.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it!" He whispered into my hair as he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly.

I was speechless, my best friend-best _guy_ friend, alive. I laughed and wrapped my arms around his slim figure and buried my face in his chest. "You're okay. You're okay right?" I pulled my head from his chest and looked him up and down. He was bruised and exhausted looking.

"No, no-yea. I'm fine. God, I can't believe you're okay" He laughed and pulled me back into a hug.

"Well, this is real cute but, we have other things we still have to do." Patrick interrupted.

"Oh yea, Emily! We need to go over to Platt, we need to-"

"Wait, Platt elementary? No,no, Hell no. Haley that is a bad idea that place is too dangerous!" Jordan snapped, and grabbed me by the shoulders.

"But if she's there we have to save her or at least know if-" I began and tears started swell in my eyes. I knew it was a suicide mission. I knew the odds of her being alive were against us. I knew Emily had to be dead or worse. "I, we just have to know." I repeated.

Jordan gripped my shoulders tighter and looked into my eyes. "Haley, I cannot, _cannot_ let you do that. I know you want more than anything for you to be able to go in there and save her, but I care about you too much to let you go in there. It won't be the same." Jordan's voice was very stern, and I felt myself begin to crumble under my friend's authoritive gaze.

I pulled myself from his grip and turned away from him. "Let's just get whatever supplies we can use from here, if there's any left and go." I muttered and grabbed a discarded backpack that was filled with random knick-knacks and vitamins. I walked into the noon sun and shivered in the January air. I sniffled and wiped my running nose on my hoodie sleeve and immediately regretted the action since I could no longer just go wash it.

"Haley, come on we need to get over there." McKenzie stuck her head out of the truck's window.

"No." My voice was firm and you could hear the heartbreak seeping through it.

"But-" McKenzie started on me but was cut off by a large explosion that came from across the street at the elementary school.

Everyone in the store ran out and stared and flames and smoke rose from the school. McKenzie screamed and I felt Jordan grab my shoulder, and I gasped as he turned me to face him.

"We need to go. That explosion is going to attract a lot of Zombies." He pushed me towards the truck and climbed in ahead of me and pulled me into the driver's seat.

"What about your car?" I asked and threw the vehicle into drive.

"That old thing barely made it here and those bastards I was with stole my pack that I'd stuffed with oil and shit for it before he left George and- George! Was he in there? Did you see George?!"

I swallowed and looked down at the steering wheel as I pulled out of the parking lot and started down the road in the direction away from Haughton. "I uh…I saw George."

Jordan's eyes lit up under his dusty glasses and he leaned over in his seat. "Yea? Where is…he..shit." He studied the melancholy look on my face and his own fell in defeat. "I was too late, huh? He's…uh… he's dead."

I didn't say anything; I just stared at the road. My silence was enough for him.

I started to search for something to say, some way of comforting him when my phone started to buzz in my pocket. My hands fumbled and I swerved a bit, almost hitting a flipped truck as I pulled it out and looked at the screen. It was Mitch; my heart flipped and my stomach turned as I answered the phone. "Oh my God, Mitch!" my voice shook and McKenzie and Elliott leaned over the seats with surprised faces.

"Haley, Oh thank God." His voice cracked and I could hear his smile on the other side of the line.

"Where are you?" we asked at the same time and my stomach filled with butterflies.

"I've secured a safe place inside the Thrifty Liquor at the corner of East Texas Street and Airline. There are a few others with me, but I have everything under control." His voice was strong and proud.

"okay, yea we'll be there in a bit." I spoke and told him who all was with me and where we were.

We ended the conversation shortly after that and let each other know we loved one another. My heart pounded in my chest and a few happy tears ran down my cheeks as I cheerfully drove towards the liquor store.

"I'm so glad Mitch is okay!" McKenzie sighed and Elliott smiled beside her. All I could do was laugh, I looked over to Jordan who gave me a small smile and a nod.

"That's good. I'm glad he's okay." He said stiffly and turned to look out the window.

I nodded back and kept driving. I was too elated to care about anything else at the moment. I was still worried about Emily and planned on wither giving myself time to mourn or plan later, but for right then I needed some Joy. We all needed some Joy.


	7. Chapter 6:Thrifty Liquor,Our Humble Home

Chapter Six: Thrifty Liquor, our humble home.

I pulled into the small parking lot of the liquor store and looked around for Zombies. There were plenty of dead ones, but we didn't see any threat. I was the first one out of the vehicles and as I waited for the others to gather their belongings and join me the barred door to the Thrifty Liquor opened and out walked Mitch, who calmly came up to me and swept me into a hug and kissed me. I cried and kissed him back, and then the moment was over as fast as it had come, and Mitch gently pushed me away and turned to my happy group of troopers.

"You will all have to be thoroughly searched before being permitted to enter. We must make sure you're not infected." Mitch's voice was unwavering and his eyes had taken on a cold gaze as he looked across the now, confused faces of the people he loved, and loved him back. The group shared glances and McKenzie was the first to start walking towards the store. She wore her simple happy smile, like she always did when she was around Mitch and I and reached the pat him on the shoulder as she passed him. Mitch grabbed her wrist and stopped her before she could even get a word out or an inch past.

"No McKenzie, I mean it, we have to check everyone." His grip was tight on my sister's wrist and I saw her wince as she tried to step back.

"ow, Mitch you're hurting me." She jerked her hand back and looked at me with eyes full of embarrassment and confusion.

"What the fuck Mitch, I get it, it's safer to check us, but that's McKenzie, you've never treated her like that. What the fuck is wrong with you?" I pushed McKenzie behind me and stood in front of Mitch. Behind me, my group closed in tighter, irritation growing among us. This was so unlike my boyfriend. Mitch would never lay a finger on McKenzie; in fact he was always very gentle. He joked with her and patted her on the head whenever she said something ditzy. He knew exactly how much she meant to me and to hurt her, in anyways, was something I refused to tolerate.

Behind Mitch two men with hunting rifles walked up, pointing the weapons at us. Mitch sighed and rolled his eyes, which threw me off even more. "You're right, Haley I'm sorry; Callie, Christa, Elliott, and McKenzie. I know you guys and I know Haley probably took good care of you…" His eyes grazed over the group and onto Jordan and Patrick. "I don't know them though."

Jordan gave an annoyed sigh. "I'm Jordan and this is…" He looked to Patrick who gave a small wave and introduced himself.

Mitch nodded and sucked on his teeth for a second. "I remember hearing about you both." He eyes cut to Jordan, to whom he gave a look of disapproval only I could catch. Mitch was always weird about Jordan. Jordan was my best guy friend and the only male friend I had that he showed obvious jealousy over. I suppose he felt threatened. I always used to ignore it though, just like I ignored all of his alpha male nuances. "Well, let's get the search over then and get back inside before any infected show up." He said and turned to whisper in the young men's ears that were standing behind him like body guards before walking back inside the store.

The two bodyguards proceeded to check us for bites or any other signs of infection. They were gentle with McKenzie and me, but were unnecessarily rough with the others, especially Jordan.

"Fuck, I'm clean!" Jordan yelled as he was shoved against the titan.

"Just procedure." The taller of the two, nicknamed Split for reasons I didn't know, or give a fuck about, blatantly stated, obviously enjoying the amount of power he had at the moment.

"Hey, fucking chill." I snapped and took a step towards him. I had had about enough bullshit for the day.

Split looked at me and backed off. "You're done…" he muttered and gave Jordan one last, small nudge before walking back inside, followed by the smaller one, Mahoney.

"Jeez, what the fuck does Mitch have going on here?" Callie cursed as she put her sweater back on.

We all began to walk inside, single file as two new rough looking guys ordered at the doors. "I don't know, but I don't feel right. It's apparent that they're following Mitch. I'll find out why and what the hell's up with him just disregarding you guys." I whispered behind Callie as we entered the small building. There were more people, mostly just young men, sitting along the walls, helping themselves to the alcohol and giving hungry and smug looks at Christa and McKenzie. I was uncomfortable too and I could tell the others felt the same. All of the men averted their eyes when I passed them, which only made me feel more uncomfortable. We walked all the way to the back of the store where a pregnant woman and little girl, no older than four or five were sitting quietly. McKenzie, Callie and Christa took seats around her. I nodded to the woman and kept walking towards the back. Jordan stopped me before I could get to the back room behind the long counter where I knew Mitch would be.

"So are all these people following your boyfriend or something? Who are they?" he asked and one of the men closest to us pushed himself from the wall and sauntered over. "Winters saved our life." He said and gave Jordan a threatening look. "He saved my friends and I and that lady and her child." He pointed to the pregnant woman who was giggling at something Callie was saying, while McKenzie and Elliott played with her daughter.

Jordan nodded. "That's awesome but-"

"-but so what? You all voted him leader?" I asked looking around the liquor store.

The man wiped his dirty nose on his torn shirt sleeve. "Yes." He gave a small chuckle. "He lead us, bravely through danger, stuck his neck out for every single one of us strangers, almost died twelve times last night doing it, and lead us here and has been keeping us organized and safe ever since. We have no reason not to follow him now." He raised an eyebrow and gave Jordan a disapproving look before turning away and going back to his spot on the wall.

"I see." I mumbled and looked back up at Jordan's annoyed expression. "Look, I'll go talk to him and see if he can get them to back off you." I patted him on his back and entered the back room. "Knock-Knock" I tapped on the door as I let it close behind me. Mitch was sitting on a bed made of cardboard boxes and dirty clothes. He stood up when he saw me and walked over, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"So you're a leader?" I started small talk and placed my hands on his shoulders.

Mitch smiled. "Yea, I saved their lives. They feel they owe me." He replied and leaned in. I felt his lips brush my neck and I swallowed as he began to kiss up and down my neck and shoulder.

"Well, that was very noble of you." I tried to gently push myself away. "They even gave you your own room."

"_Our_ own room; they know you're mine, and I've made it clear that they are to treat you with the upmost respect." He pulled my waist against him tighter as his mouth worked up to mine.

"I- no, Mitch- gah- wait." I pulled away from his kiss and embrace.

"What's wrong?" He looked confused.

"I just got here. I have questions and I want to talk. Can we please just wait before we try to have sex, please?"

Mitch looked away, hurt. "I'm just happy, and relieved to know you're okay is all…" He spoke quietly with that pouty attitude he always got when I wasn't in the mood.

"I am so happy you're okay too, love I just want to hear how you've been and just relax, may be cuddle. We've both been through a lot…" I said, and looked down at my dirty hands.

Mitch sighed and sat down on the cardboard box bed.

"I also want to ask if you could tell your men or whatever to back off my friends. They're pushing Jordan and Call-"

"Why are you so concerned with Jordan? He's a big boy; he'll be okay." Mitch rose his voice as his eyes stared angrily up at me.

I jumped at his sudden flare and felt my own anger rise. "Jordan is my friend. Why are you acting like this? Your friends out there are being dicks to him, Elliott, Callie, and Patrick and they keep looking at McKenzie and Christa like food and you're worried why I have a problem?!"

Mitch stood up and started pacing back and forth angrily. "I don't trust him." He spat.

"Jordan? Why not? He's never given you a reason not too!" I yelled. My face grew hot and I felt angry tears forming at the brim of my eyes. What was happening? This wasn't the Mitch I knew. He wasn't the jealous type. I didn't understand, this isn't how the reunion with loved ones was supposed to go.

"Not yet." He pointed at me and a threatening atmosphere filled the room, making my stomach tighten.

"Just fucking tell them to back off Mitchell Winters." I spoke through gritted teeth.

"Fine, but don't think I don't have eyes." He warned and headed for the door.

"What? What the- Mitch. You have never been like this. Why don't you trust me? Why don't you trust Jordan? There are people outside fucking eating people, and you're suddenly worried about me cheating? Last time I checked I wasn't the one who couldn't be trusted, Mitch." I spat and crossed my arms. I was referring to the year before when we were having relationship problems and he met a girl named Amber. He took her on a date and they kissed. Then he broke it off with her after realizing he wanted me. I took him back after ignoring him for almost a month but I never felt the same.

"I thought we were passed all that…" His eyes narrowed, I'd hurt his feelings. "Whatever Haley, I'll go tell them to be nice to your friends."

"Mitch, I'm not done." I took a step towards him. "We don't need this room, it goes to the pregnant woman and her daughter." I added.

Mitch's shoulders tensed. "Yea, okay. I'll tell her." He spoke stiffly and walked out.

When the door closed I let out a huge breath and felt myself begin to tremble. Nothing felt right. I didn't know what happened to my boyfriend, but something had gone wrong, and I didn't know what to do about it.

I left the room a few minutes later and gave a warm smile to the pregnant woman and her daughter as they passed me. The mother thanked me but I didn't hear much of what she said. I was too busy thinking about what I could do. There wasn't much, I mean he wasn't all bad he did save all these people. May be I was just being weird because he wasn't how _I_ wanted him to be.

"Hey, how did it g-…are you okay?" Jordan walked up to me. His fingers brushed my jaw line as he lifted my chin to look at him.

I nodded and brushed him off. "Yea, everything's fine. He uh, he said he'd have them leave you be." I kept walking past him.

"Hey, wait. Haley, hold on a second." Jordan called behind me, trying to keep his voice low.

"What Jordan? What do you want?" I asked. My pitch cracked as I held my frustrated tears in.

Jordan stopped and looked at me. He swallowed hard and seemed like he was holding back from saying what he really wanted to say. "Just talk to me. I'm here to listen… you know that." He looked down at the dirty tile floor.

I sighed and cleared my throat. "I-uh I don't know. I- Mitch isn't- he's… He's insanely jealous of you and I don't know what to do about it because his jealousy is already irrational." I rubbed my temples.

Jordan bit his lip and looked down at me through his still dusty glasses. "Yea I got that feeling… He's really that different then he used to be…?"

I nodded, "Yea he would never act this way towards McKenzie, or even you. He used to be very sweet. I- am I just being immature? I know he saved all these people, I mean man, he's a hero, but I don't know he's cold… and creating problems where there wasn't any I don't understand, am I right for feeling this upset or am I being dramatic?" I wiped a few tears from the corner of my blue eyes.

Jordan shook his head, "No way, it's okay for you to be upset about this. I saw how he looked at us, at McKenzie and how he grabbed her wrist. I think it's amazing that he saved these people, especially the nice pregnant lady, but- but I don't know, let's just be careful okay?" He reached out and touched my shoulder and gave me a comforting smile.

"Yea, ok. I better go.. If anything happened to you because you were caught just talking to me I'd-" I started with a joking laugh even though every word was serious.

"Yea, I'll be okay, later…" Jordan looked down and turned away, walking over to Patrick and Elliott who were making a point to stay away from the other guys. I didn't blame them. All of them were rough and threatening, and all of them looked as if they wanted nothing more than a good fight.

A few weeks passed without any trouble. We all had jobs and roles we took up. Callie, Christa, McKenzie and the pregnant woman, Marla, all took care of the food. Marla decided that all the females were to share the room in the back since she was just as uncomfortable with the men as we were. Jordan, Patrick and other men were forced to be part of the scavenging group. They were gone often to find medical supplies and food. I knew it wasn't because of Jordan's scouting skills that he was chosen for this it was because Mitch didn't want him around me; he'd made that obvious in the most recent days, he didn't even bother to hide his irrational jealousy anymore. Elliott and the rest of Mitch's men took shifts as security around the building, and me, I tried to something, anything, but Mitch decided my place was right next to him for emotional support. Well, if by emotional support he meant a blow job whenever he wanted; and he did. I was miserable but I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't argue with Mitch all he would do was talk me in circles and go on about how safe he was keeping us. I couldn't disagree with that either, he kept us very safe- been keeping us very safe.

"I think we can build onto this place, expand it." Mitch mumbled. We sat behind the long check-out counter, just as we did every day for the past few weeks. This was like our throne to Mitch or something, our work desk, we sat here day in and out only leaving to go to a spot in the back where the stock was held so I could please Mitch. Then we'd return here so Mitch could sit and Mumble. Everyday Mitch had begun to mumble more and more to himself about random things. Most of the time I didn't pay attention, and every other time I couldn't understand what he was mumbling about.

"Oh, yea." I replied as I always did, if I didn't Mitch would get irritated with me and say something about me being unsupportive.

"Yea, we can get the supplies and I'll have the men, and Jordan, and Patrick work on the wall. Then we'll build homes around the area." Mitch just kept going on and on.

I actually decided to pay attention that time. "Wait, what? A wall? Homes? We don't have the people and supplies to do that safely and securely, there's only about fifteen of us, counting the women and myself." I sat up straight.

Mitch turned his head to look at me. "What would you know? I know what we need." He smirked and leaned in, planting an uninvited kiss on my chapped lips.

The door opened and in came Jordan and the others from their scavenge. Jordan's eyes lit up to see me and he gave a smile.

I stood up, "Hey what did you bring back?" I asked, hoping it was lady products as I and the rest of us females requested.

"There are two of you missing." Mitch interrupted and gave Jordan a hateful glare.

Jordan's jaw tensed and he stood a bit straighter, returning the look. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Split who had joined him.

"We were rushed; we barely made it out of there. We lost the other two because this fucker was taking too long." He looked at Jordan and spit on the ground at his feet.

Jordan spun around on him. "That's bullshit they died because they wanted to fuck with the zombies behind the glass rather than get what we were in the Pharmacy for and go." Jordan fumed.

"Is that true?!" I yelled at Split.

"It doesn't matter. The point is we lost two men today." Mitch cut in, his voice booming above ours.

"Doesn't matter?" Jordan was astonished. "It does matter. It matters because you trusted two fuck nuts to be scavengers when they could have gotten us all killed, this wasn't the first time we've all almost died with them." Jordan looked back at Patrick who nodded and crossed his arms.

After that I couldn't understand what anyone was saying everyone started yelling. I was yelling at Mitch for yelling at Jordan and Patrick who were yelling at Mitch and Split who was on the verge of attacking Jordan. Then some men who were along the walls drinking started cutting in and making snide remarks about Jordan and Patrick which only made them start yelling more which Made Elliott who was off his shift from watching the building cut into defend Patrick and Jordan.

"ALL RIGHT SHUT UP!" I finally screamed above everyone.

Mitch, who was closest to me, looked as if he wanted to hit me, but he refrained. "Haley, I've got this under control, go in the back and be useful." He growled and pointed.

"Why don't you leave her alone, she can do whatever she wants." Jordan spat, finally having enough of Mitch's tyranny.

"You don't get a say. You're lucky I even let you stay here." Mitch took a step closer to Jordan, getting as close to in his face he could within the height difference.

Jordan stared down at Mitch. "If this is how you're going to treat people then I want no part in it." Jordan hissed.

"No one is going anywhere." I cut in, stopping that idea from progressing. "Everyone just needs to go chill out, that means you too." I looked at Mitch, who, in return opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it and fumed out of the room, to the back stock room. The rest of the group dismantled and went to their respected places against the wall; except for me, I huffed into the bathroom and washed my face in the sink. I took a moment to look up and at myself. I had grown thin in the last weeks and my hair was a long tangled mess, placed in the back of my head by a rubber band. I had deep circles under my blue eyes and my small lips were chapped. I sighed and wiped my face off with a paper towel.

"None of that sad sighing, you know you're beautiful." I heard a warm voice from the doorway.

I looked over to see Jordan as he walked in, and let the door swing close behind him. He wiped his glasses clean on his shirt and leaned against the wall with his scavenge satchel on his hip.

I couldn't help it, I smiled. Jordan could always make me smile. "Hey, uh. Yea. thanks" I pushed my bangs from my face and stood up straight.

Jordan slipped his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose and cleared his throat. "Are you okay? I mean- lately. I never get to see you and from how I heard him speak to you out there, I don't like-"

"Look, save it I know. I know…" Or did I, It's really easy to brush off whatever you don't want to hear and just say "I know", but underneath the mild wave and rolled eyes that I tossed at Jordan, I really didn't know. I didn't know why he acted like that or really why I stayed. Well, I knew why I stayed. I stayed because it was safer, not just for me, but McKenzie was safe. Callie and Christa were safe here; plus Mitch needed me, right?

"No, no I don't think you do." There he was, calling me out. Forcing me to listen to what I needed to, not what I wanted to. "Haley you have other option, I don't know why you let him talk to you like that, you used to be a no bullshit taking kind of person why-"

"Jordan I don't need this from you, what option do we have? What do you want me to do? Pick up and leave? That sounds nice, but where are we going to go? I can't guarantee McKenzie's safety out there."

"But you can guarantee it in here?" Jordan scoffed, taking a few steps towards me.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I argued, and put my hands on my hips in defense.

"Haley, if you would open your eyes, get your head out of Mitch's ass for a few seconds, you'd see just how dangerous he is!" Jordan was getting angry, but he kept his voice low so that no one would know he was in here.

I didn't know what to say. Was it true? Had I'd been that excluded from the group that all I saw was what I wanted to see?

"What do you mean? Jordan, why would you say Mitch is dangerous? Jealous of you yes, but dangerous?" my eyebrows furrowed as I tried to think of how Mitch could be dangerous enough to the point that Jordan thinks it would be a better option to leave, but I couldn't. I couldn't and that right there was the problem because not only could I not picture how he was dangerous to everyone, but I couldn't picture how he was helping everyone. Mitch had me so involved and orbiting around his needs specifically that I had not a clue how everyone else I cared about faired. I hadn't even seen McKenzie in a least a month.

Jordan didn't say anything. He could see the realization in my eyes. He came closer and when I didn't make any show of moving away he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"If only you knew…" He whispered into my hair. "Would it even matter, would you feel the same?"

I sniffled and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Is everyone else just as miserable here as us?"

Jordan gave a small laugh. "Callie has almost killed Split and Mahoney ten times in the past month for making sexual passes at Christa."

I giggled and pulled away from the hug, wiping my eyes. I looked up at Jordan and caught his gaze into my own. He had the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen on a guy. Instinctively he reached out and pushed my bangs that had fallen back into my face out of the way. I blushed and cleared my throat. "I-I don't know what to do. I know Mitch is a problem…but, we can't just leave we need a place to go we can't survive by going from one temporary to another." I said.

"I know…I don't know, we'll, or I'll figure something out. In the meantime you should see your sister and best friend." He said and gave me a wink. "Oh yea, before I forget and, then not be able to see for you another month, here." He opened his bag and pulled a tiny item from it and placed it in my hand.

"Oh wow, Jordan…" my eyes lit up as I looked down at the keychain he'd given me. It was of my favorite Mario character, the king bomb-omb. Its little mustache was always so adorable to me. I laughed and looked at it for a few minutes. "Thank you. I can't believe you remembered something so small and wow." I slipped the keepsake in my pocket and beamed up at Jordan who was smiling back and blushing.

"Of course I remember, I remember all sorts of things about you." He chuckled and turned to leave the bathroom. Before he opened the door he turned back, a serious look on his face. "Look, I know Mitch isn't just going to let us hang out and talk, so here is what we can do; every night after midnight I'll come in here and sleep, I know it's not the most desirable place to make a bed, but if you ever, ever want to come and talk to me you'll know where I am. It will be our secret place to hang or whatever." He scratched the back of his head nervously.

I pursed my lips and nodded, and slipped my hand into my pocket to give my key chain a little squeeze. "I promise that if I can sneak away from Mitch I will come and talk to you every night, Jordan." I promised, and meant it.

For a few nights everything went well. I would pretend to sleep next to Mitch after he was done rambling about all the conspiracies that he believed were starting to happen against him within his own group of men and how he wanted the wall around the Thrifty Liquor. Then I would sneak away from him and into the bathroom where Jordan and I would just talk and joke until a reasonable hour and then I would return to Mitch where I would sleep until he made wake up to continue my duty of sitting next to him behind that fucking counter; until one night.

I jumped awake and so did Mitch beside me to the sound of one of the girls screaming and crying, no not just one of the girls, McKenzie. I leapt from my side next to Mitch and ran as fast as I could towards the Make-shift kitchen, where McKenzie usually slept next to Elliott.

"McKenzie! McKenzie!" I screamed as I rounded a wall made of stacked shelves, and was almost knocked over by Jordan and Callie who already had blunt weapons drawn. I flew around the wall to find McKenzie behind held down and undressed by Split and Elliott who was being held back by Mahoney and some other guy. Elliott was bruised and bleeding with one eye swollen shut and three teeth on the floor in front of him. Mahoney and the other guy were laughing and going on about how Split was going to give McKenzie something she'd never forget. Funny, I had the same plans for Split.

I screamed, I screamed something fierce, it's like I wasn't even human. It was as if this primal part of me took over and I lunged. I wrapped my hands around Split's head and threw him into the wall. All I could think of was McKenzie's terrified face and the sound of her horrified bawling. I held onto Split's head and began to smash in into the concrete wall over and over again screaming the whole time. It wasn't until I felt Jordan's arms wrap around me and pull me away that I'd seen what I'd done. There wasn't much left of Split's head and I was bloodied all the way up my arms, I couldn't even be sure some of it wasn't mine from how ferociously I was throwing him into the wall. Christa was holding my sobbing sister and Marla was tending to Elliott's wounds in another room. It even took me a few minutes to register that the other two men were lying bloody and unconscious, or maybe even dead from Patrick and Jordan's doing to my side. It took me even longer to realize that Mitch and Jordan were screaming over me while I stared confused in Jordan's arms.

"You get your hands off of her. I can take care of this!" Mitch screamed, his face was red and his veins were bulging in his forehead.

Jordan only held me tighter. "You crazy fuck! You had none of this under control; if you had this under control then McKenzie wouldn't have almost been raped!" Jordan tore back into Mitch. His teeth were bared and I didn't believe it was ever possible to see Jordan this enraged.

"I would have taken care of it I didn't need you or him or anyone to intervene! This is my establishment I am king here!" Mitch screamed, and slammed his fist on the blood covered wall.

"you didn't need anyone to intervene? Mitch, My sister was being raped. Mitch McKenzie was being raped and Elliott was having the fucking shit beat out of him and you didn't want anyone to intervene? Have you forgotten everything? Have you forgotten everything in such a short amount of time? Were a few months all you needed to completely lose your mind Mitch? McKenzie loved you like a brother, she trusted you to protect her, and we all trusted you and you say you had everything under control, but you couldn't control three of your so faithful, trusty men. Bullshit. You are nothing. I hate you." I cried, my voice was shaking and I couldn't control my tears, but I meant every word with everything I had. "There was a time where you would have killed a man for looking at McKenzie the wrong way."

"I have been taking care of you. I have been protecting you. All of you are against me I see what this is. You don't want me you want him, I see."

"Mitch this isn't about him, it never was. It's about you!" I yelled and stood up. I began to yell at him more when I felt my phone, which I had all but forgotten about begin to ring across the room from where it was plugged into the wall. Everyone stopped and stared as Panic! at the Disco's "Trade Mistakes" repeated over and over. I walked over; dropping everything I wanted to say to Mitch and picked the phone up. It was Dani. She was my best friend next to Callie. I answered the call. "Holy shit Dani."

"Oh my God, Haley is that you? I can't believe you're alive. I- I've been trying to find my phone for a few weeks and I finally found it a month ago and I've been searching for a power source to charge it ever since. Most of my neighborhood is out of power, where-where are you? I need your help. I-I'm all that's left over here Haley, I'm alone please." Dani cried.

"Oh my god, of course! Tell me where you are we'll come get you!" I couldn't believe she was okay. I had hoped, but I discarded the idea of her being alive a long time ago with Emily and Mom. I waited for Dani to frantically tell me where she was and then I hung up the phone.

"Dani? She's okay?" Callie asked from across the room. She was standing in the doorway. Her sleeves were rolled up and stained red from helping Marla with Elliott.

"Yea, we have to go get her." I exclaimed and started grabbing a few bags to take with us.

"No." I heard Mitch from next to the counter, along with the sound him cocking a shotgun.

I turned my head slowly over to see Mitch. He was angry and standing on the counter, behind him there were two men left from his side with guns, all pointed on us.

"What do you mean, No? We have to get Dani, she's alive, Mitch. We have to save Dani!" I yelled.

Mitch's stare was cold as ice, and his voice was just as frozen. "I said No. No one's going anywhere."


	8. Chapter 7:All Work and No Play Makes

"What are you doing? You can't make us stay here, Mitch. We're leaving!" I yelled and looked behind me at Patrick and Jordan who were holding their weapons and fuming. I looked over to Callie; she was standing by the backroom door with the most pissed look on her face I'd ever seen.

"You try to leave, and you die." Mitch stated bluntly. "I'd be more than happy to just kill off most of you, but I think you'd be much more of use to me alive for my wall I plan to have built around our permanent humble home." Mitch yelled the last few words; his eyes bore into Jordan specifically.

"What? That's bullshit! You can't do this to us!" I yelled back and watched as Mitch leapt from the counter only a foot in front of me.

"I've had just about enough of you disagreeing with me, Haley." He growled and grabbed me by a hand full of hair. "It's time to teach you your place." He hissed and started to drag me towards the bathroom.

"No! F-fuck you!" I screamed and attempted to twist away, but Mitch was stronger, he was always stronger.

"No! Stop! Haley!" Jordan started and went to charge at Mitch, but was instead, brought to his knees by the butt end of a hunting rifle to his stomach.

I could hear McKenzie crying for me and Marla trying to comfort her and her own daughter, Aubrey. I could hear Patrick yelling and the sounds of Jordan being beaten in front of the store. Everything had gone to hell, everything right in front of my eyes.

Mitch kicked the swinging door open and threw me inside ahead of him, straight into the row of sinks. I caught myself with my arms before my face hit the yellowed porcelain. Pain shot through my arms up to my shoulders and I bit down a cry. Before I could I stand up straight Mitch had my hair again and threw me against the cold tile wall.

"Please…stop" I sobbed and tried to turn my head and face him, but instead was met with his flattened palm holding my face to the cold tile.

He didn't respond only, continued to hold me against the tile and undress me. Eventually he started to mutter angrily. "You are mine. You will Learn…" He growled.

I cried and let myself slump against the wall. Outside the bathroom I could hear gunshots start to fire and Callie and others yelling.

"hehe, looks like I won't have to worry about them...a-after..all" Mitch grunted with a tired laugh.

"Why? Why Mitch, this isn't you. Who are you?" I cried and let myself slump against the cold tile. I couldn't fight him, there was no point. My friends were being killed outside and Mitch could just hurt me more or worse, McKenzie; that is if she wasn't already dead.

"Who am I? WHO AM I?" Mitch pulled my head back with a handful of hair too hard and I had to strain to breathe and swallow. I felt Mitch's hot breath on my ear and I tried to curl away, but that only made him pull harder. "You are the one who changed. You are not Haley, I don't know you. You're not the Haley I fell in lo-." Suddenly Mitch was thrown to the side by a powerful blow to the ribs. He cried out and before he could lift himself up I saw Callie walk over and kick him in the face.

I was in shock, all I could do was say her name as I stared up in disbelief at my rescuer. "But, I thought…" I stuttered.

Callie turned and looked at me; she was covered in what reeked as alcohol and had tiny cuts all over her face and neck. "Hey buddy, don't worry! I got this." She wore a wide smile. Callie turned back to Mitch and was too late as Mitch punched her in the stomach, and then elbowed her in the back, sending her to her knees.

I screamed and scrambled to my feet to help, but Callie rolled out of the way before he could land another blow, she then swung her body around and kicked him in his exposed genitals. He doubled over and dry heaved for a second and Callie took that as an opportunity to climb to her feet and ready another hit.

To my side I heard and saw McKenzie run into the bathroom and fall onto me. She pulled me close to her and cried over me, relieved to see me alive as I was to see her same. We watched as Callie repeatedly punched Mitch in the face. I was rooting for her, I didn't care if she killed Mitch, maybe he was right after all, and perhaps I was a completely different person.

"Look out!" McKenzie yelled and covered her mouth as we both had seen Mitch grab a jagged piece of glass from a mirror that had somehow been destroyed in the fight between them. He was holding it in his bloodied hand, ready to stab Callie when a shot rang out and Mitch's head snapped backwards and sent a spray of blood, hair and brain matter all over the tile wall behind him.

I jumped and looked to the doorway to see Jordan drop my handgun that Mitch had taken away from me and hid weeks ago to his side. My eyes widened as I took in the sight. Jordan's face was swollen and bloody. He had a black eye and his glasses were cracked, and bent at a comical angle on his face. He let out a huge breath and fell against the wall.

The whole building was quiet, except for the small crying from Marla's daughter, Aubrey, and Marla shushing her outside the bathroom door. I stood up and helped McKenzie to her feet, and with a hard swallow, I gritted my teeth and limped over to Jordan who weakly opened his arms for me to fall into.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't get here in-in time." He whispered.

I shook my head. "I'm happy you're not dead." I leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead as hot tears began to sting my eyes once again. You'd think I'd be all cried out by now with how much I had so far, but as it turns out, I'm not the badass I thought I'd be in the Zombie apocalypse.

Jordan smiled, or well, tried to smile. It was hard to tell with how swollen his face had become from his beating, but I was sure he was smiling.

"He's really…dead." Marla breathed two feet from us, in the doorway.

Callie stood up and turned around. "Jordan, he…you saved me man! He almost cut me." She gave a relieved chuckle and half-heartedly kicked the glass away from Mitch's lifeless body.

We all stayed in silence for a few moments before Marla shook her head and jumped. "Oh yes, Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, McKenzie, I need you to come with me dear, It's Elliott, I don't think he's doing well." She urged and moved past Jordan and I to help McKenzie out of the room.

"Was she a nurse?" I asked and looked behind me to Callie.

"Oh yea, she was getting ready for maternity leave When the whole Zombie thing happened. She just never wanted Mitch to find out. You know, out of fear that Mitch would ostracize her and over use her or something." Callie walked over and kneeled down to get a better look at Jordan's beat up face.

"Like he did with you." Jordan added with a wince as Callie touched at his swollen eye.

"Come on, we need to let Marla fix you up. Callie stood back up, and with very little help from me, lifted Jordan to his feet and helped walk us to the back stock room where Marla was with the rest of the group.

Outside the bathroom the store was a complete mess. Just the smell of the alcohol that was everywhere was enough to make you wasted. There was broken glass and liquid covering everything. The walls and shelves were lined with bullet holes and Mitch's dead men were strewn about the area as well.

"How did you…?" I stared at the wreckage in disbelief. "They had guns and…"

"Yea well, they weren't expecting anyone to stop their playtime with Jordan's face. Patrick took a bottle of liquor before and broke it over one of the dumbasses skulls and took his gun before the other even knew his friend was out. Patrick Shot the one who was still holding Jordan and then had to wrestle the one he hit over the gun. They almost shot me as I was making my way to you." Callie grunted as she shifted Jordan's weight so we could maneuver around a stack of boxes before entering the door to the back room.

"Oh my gosh, Is Pat okay?" I asked and looked at Jordan.

He nodded. "Yea, The guy almost had him, but I managed to regain enough consciousness in time to grab the nearest thing to me, a bottle of Crown Royal, and chunked it at him. I hit the guy in the back and that gave Patrick what he needed to twist the gun back and blow the bastards brains out. Then I found your hand gun behind the counter and got to you as fast as I could. Thankfully, Callie got him off you." His voice was weak and full of guilt.

As we turned a corner I could hear McKenzie start to sob, and Marla trying to comfort her. "McKenzie? McKenzie what's going on?" I called and sped up our pace until it was almost too painful for all of us. I helped Callie set Jordan down on a small stack of pallets and limped over to my sister who was crying over the still body of Elliott. I wrapped my arms around her and let her cry on me instead. It hurt way more than the physical pain I was feeling to see her so heartbroken. I felt as if I'd be there forever in an endless loop just watching my little sister get hurt. "I'm so sorry McKenzie. I'm sorry they did this." I whispered as I stared down at the cold, bruised corpse that used to be Elliott; this kid who was McKenzie's protector when I couldn't be. I had failed him, by not being their sooner, or I felt that way.

"It's not your fault…" She sniffled and pulled away from me to join what was left of us by Jordan, where Mrs. Marla was patching him up. Christa sat nearby and held Aubrey while Patrick showed Callie how to clean one of the guns that used to be Elliot's.

"You're next, hun." Mrs. Marla said as she finished the last bandage over Jordan's now swollen shut, eye.

After she was all finished with Jordan she lead be behind a stack of pallets and examined me.

"Well, other than bruising you seem all fine down there that I can tell, but I wasn't an OBGYN. I'll find you some painkillers and you should be fine, and if it helps I'm glad the son of a bitch is dead." She said and patted me on the shoulder as I pulled up my pants.

I chuckled and gave a shaky sigh. "Yea well-."

"No, I mean it. Aubrey's father was abusive and…yea, well let's just say I'm glad he's dead too." She swallowed hard and looked around the pallets at Aubrey who was now playing doctor with Jordan by coloring on his bandages with a blue marker and telling him he was all better.

I looked down at my shoes. "I-I'm sorry Mrs. Marla I didn't know."

"No one knew, honey. I'm just thankful he never laid a finger on Aubrey." Marla rubbed her pregnant belly instinctively and gave a sigh and with her other hand she held mine and walked me back to the group.

"What do we do now?" Christa asked as I took a seat next to Jordan and let Aubrey pretend to work on me with princess band aids.

"We go get Dani." Callie said and cocked her shot gun.

"But that's how far from here? Its dark outside, and we have injured people." Marla said and picked up Aubrey, and held her close.

"We can't stay here. We have to get Dani!" McKenzie argued and tossed me a bottle of Aspirin.

I caught it and popped a few, and passed it to Jordan. "Yea we're pretty beat up, but Dani needs us. Jordan and I may just have to sit out a few fights that may occur." I looked over to Jordan that between gulps of water with his Aspirin only replied with a weak smile and thumbs up.

"Yea, you still got me and Patrick. I know you're scared but we'll take care of you." Callie gave one of her famous illuminating smiles and the tension in the room lessened immediately.

"I can handle a third gun and Christa will help Mrs. Marla with Aubrey." McKenzie added from across the room as she looked at two hunting rifles that used to belong to Mitch's men. She weighed them in each hand and did a quick comparison on which she felt suited her before placing the other to the side.

"McKenzie I don't know… maybe you should just stick with Marla, Christa and Aubrey…" I suggested nervously.

"Fine, but with a gun." She compromised.

"Alright then, let's get ready to ride." Callie smirked and clicked a magazine into my handgun for me.


	9. Chapter8:ALot Has Changed in a Few Weeks

Twelve to be exact; twelve weeks since I had last been outside, and that was when we arrived at the Thrifty Liquor. As I stepped out into the cool dawn air of mid-April I felt off. I. I looked around at all the tall grass that grew from every available crack in the concrete and grassy areas beside abandoned businesses. I touched the pollen that collected on our vehicles. Jordan wobbled up beside me and gently took my hand. He said nothing at first, it was unnecessary; he knew what my situation was for the past six weeks and he knew how I felt about being so cut-off from everyone. When he finally did decide to speak he gave my hand a small squeeze before so, and waited until my eyes met his.

"After a few days, Mitch only let the scavengers out. That consisted of, Patrick and me from our group so you weren't the only one."

"Hop in guys; you two and Patrick are with me in your truck, while Mrs. Marla drives Aubrey, Christa and McKenzie behind us in some other truck that was one of Mitch's men's." Callie climbed into the driver's seat of the silver Titan and began to familiarize herself with something she'd never driven before. Thank goodness it was an automatic or we would have been there for a while.

While Jordan and I slowly attempted to make ourselves cozy in the backseat, Patrick made himself busy with packing the bed of the truck with gallons of gasoline that had been hidden in what used to be Mitch's Ford Taurus. I watched in fascination as Patrick opened other cars and pulled out hidden things like ammo and water bottles, and even some snacks.

"Wait, how did you guys?" I looked at Jordan, who grinned proudly under bandaged and less swollen face.

"Well, we knew we didn't want to live here forever so we began to stash supplies for the day we were going to break everyone out, and we knew Mitch was never going to take a step outside with how obsessed he was with keeping you, and everyone else a certain way; so his car became the first place to store things. Patrick, Elliott, and I would take turns distracting the others so we could sneak out whatever we stole from the whole. We even got McKenzie and Christa to help distract them whenever they became suspicious. They would flirt, and talk shit about each other to keep them entertained." Jordan's face grew dark. "I'm sorry about the thing that happened with McKenzie…I-It would have never happened if She hadn't been leading Split on for the past few weeks for us…" Jordan rubbed his face and rested his head in his hands.

I leaned against his and placed my head on his quivering shoulder. Of course I wasn't mad at Jordan, it wasn't his fault. I knew he was going to blame himself anyways though. I chewed on my lip and closed my eyes and eventually Jordan lifted his head and put his arm around me.

"Wake up! Look alive we have trouble!" I was shaken awake by Callie and Jordan who were taking up the front seat. I opened my eyes she shot up, with a gasp. Outside the truck were Zombies everywhere. They were shambling from yards and open houses all targeting their hungry outstretched arms for our vehicles and Dani's house. Before I could fully process what was happening Jordan was swinging open his door and shooting the surrounding Zombies with a sawed off shotgun.

I grabbed my handgun from the floorboard quickly and switched the safety off and followed my friends outside the truck and was immediately swarmed to the side by three Zombies. I kicked the first one in the chest, sending it flying into the second one while I shot the third in the forehead and dangerously close range to being bitten. "Where the hell did all these infected come from?!" I bellowed to Callie who was a few feet from me and taking out any infected that neared her or Christa with a hunting rifle.

"Well, I'm assuming they saw us pull in and decided to throw a block party." Callie grunted sarcastically as she laid out an elderly male undead.

I shot another Zombie in the face and kicked it out of the way as I attempted to move up in Dani's yard with the others. With how many Zombies were starting to surround us I was beginning to feel panicked.

"Where's Dani?" I heard McKenzie ask loudly over the sounds of our gunfire. She was protecting Mrs. Marla and terrified Aubrey with the Help of Patrick.

"Haley! You guys! Up Here!" I heard a frantic call from the second story of the home. I looked up and saw Dani waving her arms around. "We have the front of the house barricaded; make your way to the backdoor! Josh will help you." She ordered and as if waiting on some queue, a Zombie's head that was close to my shoulder popped back and dropped. I jumped and looked towards the back gate to see Josh leaning against the fence with a very large hunting rifle with a scope.

"This way! Move!" Josh yelled as he started popping off other Zombies in the yard.

McKenzie, Marla, Aubrey and Patrick made it through the fence first. I felt as if I was going to die. Every time I thought I covered five steps through the gate a zombie or two would push me back eight. It was as if they just kept coming from every direction and I was being overwhelmed. I yelled and pushed back two zombies that had gotten in each other's way of getting to me. I pulled the trigger to lay them out but all that came to my relief was a _click _which was no relief at all. I cursed and pivoted to the left to give myself time to reach behind me to my backpack and grab the crowbar that was sticking out of the top. It had been among the supplies Jordan and Patrick hid in Mitch's car for me. I wrapped my hand around the cold metal and with all my strength I pulled the bar out and brought the hook down on the nearest Zombie's forehead. With a sickening _crack_ the Zombie fell backward onto the one behind it. Ahead of me I saw Callie and Christa pass through the fence. I shuffled and swung the crowbar around, breaking arms and pushing zombies away as I swallowed my pain, and bit down my paranoia that I would be completely overwhelmed and eaten in front of my loved ones.

"Haley, hold on! I'm coming!" I heard Jordan shout from a few yards away. He had been pushed more to the left by the still thick crowd of Zombies. My heart pounded in my chest and I fought to pay attention to the danger surrounding me while at the same time tried to make sure that Jordan didn't get bitten while trying to save me. I looked to him as I knocked a female Zombie to the side with my now gross-covered crowbar. He was still badly bruised and swollen in places on his face, but if he was in pain he wasn't showing it. The only look I could decipher was pure determination with a dash of worry. As the space between us began to close I noticed more undead dropping and I looked up to see Dani trying to pick off Zombies from her spot in one of the second floor windows. If anything she was at least slowing the infected down by hitting other parts and knocking them to the ground. Also assisting Dani and Josh was Patrick who had taken a spot in the other second floor window and was doing a better job than Dani at picking Zombies off.

"Hurry guys!" I heard Josh calling from the gate.

Jordan shot a Zombie that had lumbered too close to me, and pushed me forward and shot the Zombies that Dani, Patrick and Josh missed as we ran for the gate as fast as our damaged bodies would allow. Within seconds we made it through the gate, but there was no time to rejoice our survival. There were still Zombies shuffling down the street and through yards, making their way to Dani's house.

Josh ushered everyone inside through the backdoors, which used to be beautiful white French ones, but were now reinforced with wooden 2X4s and the kitchen table. The inside looked completely different then I remembered too. Not only were the back doors reinforced, but every window was covered with pieces of broken furniture and then blankets. The only light was a few candles that were scattered across the home. Most of the furniture was broken and there was not Dani's dad, Riley or Renee. Riley and Renee were Dani's two lively Boxers. Only a full, moldy bowl of dog food was let in the spot against the back living room wall as their reminder.

I gasped as I felt arms wrap around me and almost knocked me to the floor.

"Haley! I thought you were dead!" She squealed as I fought to not choke on her tangled red hair.

"What would you know?! You never charge your phone!" I joked and felt Josh's embrace around Dani and I.

"Yea, we've been worried. My phone was broken while trying to take down KP." Josh mumbled. KP the nickname everyone called Dani's dad. It was just his two initials.

I nodded and broke from their embrace to take a peek outside the closed backdoor. There was about ten Zombies shambling around the neighboring backyards and street behind the houses behind us.

"Be Careful, Don't let them see you." Dani snapped and almost jerked me from the door, but Josh gently touched her arm, stopping her. Before the world went to shit Dani always had a bad habit of snapping at people and having mini-freakouts over small stuff, and it would drive Josh and I absolutely crazy, but now her snaps were a bit more justified.

I closed the blanket back over the peephole and turned to them. "Why aren't they trying to break in now? They saw us come in here."

"Well, we have a theory." Josh began.

"We think Zombies have a very small memory, very limited. Eventually, since they can't see us; they forget we were here and stumble away." Dani cut in.

Josh nodded and ran his hands through his black, stringy hair. "Yea, that's why we keep the windows covered. So Zombies won't see us or-"

"Or the light." Dani and Callie interrupted at the same time.

"Yes…damn ya'll won't let a man get a whole sentence in." Josh over exaggerated a gangster voice and threw his arms in the air comically, making the room erupt in laughter, making everyone relax a bit.

After Marla checked everyone for wounds and made sure Jordan's bandages were clean we all settled in the living room to eat and rest.

"These past weeks…months? They've been rough. I have no idea if Cadie and Jerrika are alive or not." Dani explained between bites of her can of Ravioli. Cadie and Jerrika were our friends who lived about an hour away in a town called Vivian.

"What about Brittany?" I asked, surprised to not see her and her boyfriend here with us.

Dani shrugged, "Don't know…She called my phone a few times in the beginning while my phone was dead and lost, but when I tried to call her back it went straight to voicemail. She replied and looked to Josh who reached over and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Yea, that could mean anything you know…" He sighed and finished his water bottle.

"Did you get a hold of Mitch? Is he okay…or?" Dani started, but trailed off after strange looks were exchanged among the rest of us.

We each took our turn, telling what happened for the past six weeks as we knew it and at the end Dani and Josh's faces were a mask of shock.

"Well…fuck. All I can say is I regret not being there to help kill that son of a bitch." Josh cursed and shook his head.

"No Shit…" Dani mumbled.

Soon after that we all settled down to sleep. We had no plans for the following day or week. We were just happy to be alive, together and not under a dictatorship. I snuggled up to Jordan and found I couldn't go to sleep. I laid there and stared at the ceiling and occasionally I'd look over to see Christa and McKenzie sleeping next to Aubrey, and Dani and Josh sleeping together in the middle of the room, while Patrick slept next to the backdoor with his gun. I noticed Marla was amiss though, and I chewed on my lip, curious as to where she might've been, and If I should look for her. She was probably in the bathroom, but something felt off. Just as the urge to sit up came, it vanished as Marla came back in and took her place snuggled up to Aubrey beside McKenzie. She seemed fine to me and within minutes I was nodding off and falling asleep.

Morning followed and I was woken up by the bustling of everyone waking up and moving around. Dani and Callie had taken everyone's backpacks and emptied them in the living room to sort through them to find out what we needed and what we had.

I stretched and walked through the living room to find Jordan, Patrick, and Josh by the garage door. They had a list of things Dani made for them to go out and scavenge for.

"We're going to go out and go to these houses…" Josh was explaining as he showed Patrick and Jordan on a roughly made map of the neighborhood. There were a few houses that had been cleared and were marked with red Xs, including, Josh's old house, a street over.

I kept walking and found McKenzie, Christa and Aubrey, playing in what used to be the game room with old beanie babies that was Dani's from when she was Aubrey's age. Back when everything was normal.

"Where's Marla?" I asked, noticing her absence again.

"Mommy's in the potty. She said her tummy is hurting. She's been going in there all day." Aubrey spoke as she attempted to braid McKenzie's hair and decorate it with an octopus beanie baby.

My stomach dropped a little and gave McKenzie a worried look. In return, she nodded and gestured her head toward the bathroom. I took a deep breath and walked to the bathroom door. I could see a candle was lit from under the door, and I knocked lightly. "Marla..? Marla are you okay? Aubrey said-."

"Yea, I'm okay. Baby is just kicking… is all." The bathroom door swung open and Marla appeared in the door, flustered and nervous.

I made a face and gently put myself in the way of her moving past me. "You sure momma? You don't look so good." I said my face dropping into a serious gaze.

Marla nodded and avoided eye contact with me. "I think the baby is just coming soon… or well, he should be. I mean he's due very soon." She bit her lip and looked at me nervously.

"When's the due date?" I asked.

Marla's lip quivered and she ran a hand through her greasy blond hair. "Today."

"Well, shit Marla shouldn't you lie down or something? Maybe, let a few people now so we can prepare for this?" I scolded and tried to keep my voice low.

"Well, a lot has happened in the past few days and I'd have been damned if I would have made a big deal while Mitch was running things. He was too unpredictable." She hissed, getting defensive.

"Look, I'm not trying to be mean, but, gah. What do we need to get? Medicine? I'll send a scavenge party." I said.

Marla seemed worried. "I don't really want a whole big thing about it. I don't need everyone worrying or running about."

"Marla, you're about to have a baby, how are you going to keep it secret? Everyone knows you're pregnant. It will be fine." I assured her.

Marla chewed on her lip a bit and shrugged. "Fine…I'll need these things…"


	10. Chapter 9: New Addition

The house was buzzing with equal excitement and worry for the arrival of little Jaxon. There was a lot of preparing to do, and according to Christa, Aubrey, McKenzie and Dani, partying to plan. Don't get me wrong, I was all for celebrating; I mean things like that are things to be cherished, especially in the world we live in now. Having new innocent life spring in the midst of all the corrupt death was and, is a beautiful thing but, I couldn't help but worry that anything that could go wrong would.

"Hey, how are you?" Asked Jordan one day while I fetching Marla something to drink. It had been four days since she told me she was about to pop, and we told everyone else. Since then, everyone was waiting on her hand and foot while we made her stay in bed and, by _we_, I mean the women. We all took care of her in shifts and at that moment it was my turn to sit and make sure she didn't give birth and go crazy while being forced to stay in bed.

It had also been three days since the water in the house stopped turning on. So far, everyone was coping okay. We still had a huge storage of water bottles and people weren't starting to smell just yet. I knew our surplus wouldn't last long though, so I took note with Dani to make sure we become a lot stricter with the water and, to make sure we just used a lot of deodorant. At the moment people were still in high spirits about it.

"I'm good, you?" I replied with a small smile and grabbed a half full bottle of water off of the counter that had been marked as belonging to Marla from the day before.

"Yea good, hey I know you're busy and all with the baby on its way but, tonight when you switch out with someone and you have time, I want to show you something. That is, if you want and all…if it's cool… please." He gave me big puppy dog green eyes and I felt my insides erupt in butterflies.

"Yea, sure just come get me whenever past 8." I replied and brushed a loose strand of dark brown hair behind my ear.

"Okay, eight cool." He turned away with a wider smile and walked out to the backyard where Patrick and Josh were teaching Callie how to perfect her aim.

"Jordan…I like him, he's a very nice boy." Mrs. Marla smiled as she took the bottle from me.

I smiled and felt my face grow hot. "Yea, everyone does. He's awesome." I sat on the bed that used to be KP's next to the expecting mother.

"When I was a few years older than you….I was about 27. I had a friend who was head over heels in love with me. He was my best friend and I was totally oblivious to his affections for the longest time." She stopped to chuckle, and rubbed her belly nonchalantly. "At the time I had been dating Aubrey's father for over a year and we were very serious. We made all these plans together for the rest of our lives…or well, I did…I made most of them. Aubrey's father was very confused on what he wanted and we had problems…I started to notice- I started to notice him more, Leon was my friend's name, but by the time I knew what I- who I really wanted, I was already pregnant with Aubrey, and Leon found someone else. Then you know, Aubrey's father changed. That was five years ago and it hurts to not know where Leon is or if he's okay." Marla trailed off and stared and the floor, rubbing her belly.

My stomach turned, I wasn't sure what to say. I wondered if what Marla was trying to say was to go for Jordan or something. Either way, she'd had a rough last five years. I felt bad for her and Aubrey.

Night rolled around soon after that and McKenzie traded out with me, and Jordan found me.

"You ready? Come on!" He said, he gave a small clap of excitement and guided me to the backyard.

We walked outside into the warm night air. I shivered and looked around. The night was different in many ways. It was after nine p.m. and it was fairly bright out, as if it was still just setting around 7:30 or 8:00. Before I could open my mouth to say anything about it Jordan spoke first.

"Up here, come on." He smirked and started to climb up the ladder to the roof. I climbed after him and let him help me up by my hand. When I was fully on the room I looked over the edge to give a quick safety check. There were no Zombies that we could see on the ground. Over the past few weeks Jordan, Patrick, Josh, and Callie had done a wonderful job of clearing houses and keeping our street pretty clear of the infected.

"Right here." Jordan smiled as he guided me to a spot on the roof where he'd laid a blanket down for us to sit on. Also on the blanket, was a little basket that was covered with a cloth. I sat next to him as butterflies attacked my stomach again.

"The Sky…" I began as I looked away from Jordan's charming smirk and out into the neighborhood below us. The Sky, even though it was so late at night, was a deep orange and the thin clouds that danced across it were black and purple swirling tendrils. It was nothing I'd seen before. Beyond the sky, towards the city I could see rising of smoke from fires that were happening far off, deep towards downtown Shreveport. Below us in the neighborhood it was mostly quiet. The grass was long and wild in all the yards. Houses and, vehicles what were in the yards were starting to be completely overgrown with vines and ivy. Somewhere, far off was the faint sound of a car alarm and a dog barking, but it was nothing we had to worry about.

"It's beautiful in a…strange way." I breathed as I returned my gaze to the inky swirls that danced across the orange sky.

Jordan scooted closer to me a few inches and sighed. "Yea, it's been this way for a few weeks now. At first I assumed it was all the fires and shit burning across the city, but I know most of them have burned out by now…but."

"So whatever turned the sky, may have something to do with the infection?" I asked, opening my mind to the possibility of chemical infection, or some sort of bioweapon.

"If that's so then it's in the air and we all should be infected. From what we've seen, the infection is only passed through bites and I'm assuming other bodily fluids so it must be some sort of virus? I mean, Elliott didn't come back after being beaten to death." Jordan thought aloud with me.

"Perhaps a man-made weapon- bio weapon that was injected or ingested, then passed through bodily fluids after that, but that would never create the sky to be like this… heck…could be biblical." I pondered.

Jordan shrugged. "Don't know." He mumbled and we stared in silence at the dark swirled sky, lost in our thoughts.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Jordan exclaimed suddenly, which made me jump and forget about my random thoughts. Jordan pulled the cover off the basket and pulled out a bag of pretzel M&Ms, and placed it in my lap. It was one of my favorite types of candy.

I smiled and looked at the bag of sweets I'd all but forgotten the existence of.

"When Josh, Patrick, Callie and I went on a small scavenge a few days ago I found this, perfectly unopened." He gave a shy smile and leaned a little closer to me.

"Thank you. I thought I'd never taste candy again." I said in a dramatic voice and opened the little blue bag.

Jordan touched my hand before I could raise an M&M to my smiling lips. His eyes moved nervously to mine and he pulled his glasses off. I gulped as he leaned in closer. His nose brushed my cheek and moved up to meet my nose.

"I've been trying to find or, create a perfect moment for this. I'm pretty sure I suck at being creatively romantic." He whispered and finally just closed his eyes and pressed his lips to mine.

My heart felt like it was going to burst through my chest, and my stomach turned with butterflies- no eagles. My stomach turned with eagles as his fingers traced my jawline and his lips moved against mine. Eventually I pulled away to breathe and I giggled all loopy as Jordan wrapped his arms around me and held me close to him.

"Hey! We don't have time for ya'lls mushy bullshit! There's a baby coming!" We hard Callie call from the backdoor and, we jumped up and raced to the edge of the roof.

When the both of us had made it down the ladder Callie had already ran back inside. I cracked the backdoor open and was immediately greeted with a howling shriek from who could only be Marla and a bunch of other angry chatter coming from the Master bedroom.

Before entering the bedroom I ran to the kitchen and, quickly washed my hands and arms with a mixture of water from my water bottle, some Disney Princess soap and, emergency Germ-X. As I entered the bedroom I was greeted with more panicked yelling by McKenzie and Dani while Marla was being held up in a squatting position with the help of Christa and Callie on either arm.

In the corner nearest to Marla was a shocked looking Aubrey who started to cry in the middle of all the confusion. Dani was on the floor next to what I could only gather as being the fluid from Marla's water breaking. She was yelling at Josh to grab more than one towel. Christa was utterly silent, cringing in pain as Marla death squeezed her hand and, Callie was gagging and laughing at the same time while trying to encourage Marla to relax. I calmly pushed past McKenzie who was coming in to pick up Aubrey and kneeled beside Dani, in front of Marla.

"Okay Momma today's the day. Give me a push. How do you feel?" I asked and, placed a few towels that Josh returned with on the floor, between the hyperventilating pregnant woman's legs to soak up the fluids already spilled and any that would be spilled during and after the birth.

"I'm terrified and am in immense pain!" She replied and gripped Callie and Christa's hands tighter.

I gave a nervous chuckle as I felt sweat begin to bead across my forehead and under my nose. "Well, I'm no Doctor but, let's go ahead and give a push, okay?" I suggested and turned back to tell Josh to ready a room temperature bottle of water and wash cloth.

Marla gritted her teeth and began to push. She'd stop every few seconds to breathe and let Callie wipe sweat from her head and neck and then cuss out everyone in the room for anything and everything. It took over thirty minutes of her breathing, pushing and, cursing for me to finally start to see the top of a mucus covered baby head.

"Okay, Finally!" I yelled and readied my shaky hands to help the baby out.

Marla gave a few more big pushes and I heard Jordan and, Patrick make sick noises behind me and, Josh start to laugh at them. Dani let loose an excited squeal as Callie and Christa tried not to puke everywhere.

Baby Jaxon was pushed out to his stomach and, I took that as the perfect moment to help gently pull the rest of the dangling infant out. When he was freed from Marla's womb I immediately brought him to my chest and wrapped him in a blanket. The baby's wails filled the room and Marla fell backwards onto the bed and began to cry tears of Joy. Josh brought me bottle of water and towel so that I could clean the baby up and Jordan, as sickly as he looked, helped me cut the umbilical cord with his pocket knife. After Josh and I finished cleaning little baby Jaxon, while Dani, Christa and McKenzie helped Mrs. Marla get cleaned and fixed up, we handed the little healthy bundle to his mother to hold and breast feed when she was ready.

A few hours later after everyone had a good rest we let Aubrey in to see her mother and new baby brother. We also had a little celebration that evening with a cake that we baked in the gas powered stove, some Kool-Aid and, gave little gifts of oversized diapers and baby clothes that had been taken on some scavenges. We all laughed and held the baby and marked his birthday on the calendar, happy for our new member of our family.


End file.
